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Electronic banking - Security issues

Questions and answers:

“Technology and computers cannot protect everything for you automatically.”

Describe strategies that you can use in order to ensure your personal security when using Internet banking facilities.

An individual should take the following responsibilities:
- Change your password regularly; notify the organisation if you feel your password is compromised.
- Do not disclose your password to anyone
- Maintain control over your account details, be careful of saved or printed electronic information
- Exit Internet banking site by logging off properly and never leave your computer unattended in order to avoid others accessing your account details.
- Ensure that anti-virus and anti-spyware software is current and running on your computer at all times.
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Discuss the meaning of cryptography.

Cryptography means secret writing or the art of secret writing. It refers to techniques to write secret messages that only the recipient can decode to understand the messages.
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Describe the techniques of cryptography.

Cryptography prevents unauthorised people from monitoring your password, account details, credit card numbers, name and address details during electronic transmission between your computer the banks computer system.
Modern cryptography generally uses one of two techniques.
1. Asymmetric encryption, or Public Key Encryption (PKE), uses two different, but mathematically related keys. Providing one key is kept secret (the Private key), the other can be disclosed (the Public key) without decreasing the protection available.
2. Symmetric, or Secret Key Encryption (SKE), requires identical keys at the sender and receiver's locations. Then the sender and receiver can send secure messages back and forth. However, the difficulty now lies in transporting the secret keys between each pair of people who wish to communicate securely.
The Commonwealth Bank has combined both forms of cryptography in our security system.
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Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of electronic banking for:
1. Individual
  Some of the possible responses include:
  Advantages
  - Save method of transactions with the bank due to encryption
  - Convenient 24/7, less time, effort, no traveling
  - Lower administration costs for customers
  Disadvantages
  - Susceptible to fraud
  - Equity issue, not everyone has access to the Internet and is computer literate
2. Society
  Some of the possible responses include:
  Advantages
  - Increased use of electronic banking
  - New role for bank employee because less of a need for administration
  Disadvantages
  - Changing nature of work for bank employees requiring re-training in new aspects of the job
  - Loss of jobs through downsizing
  - Less face to face banking therefore less human interaction
3. Environment
  Some of the possible responses include:
  Advantages
  - Introduction of antispyware software
  Disadvantages
  - Electronic banking provides an opportunity for invasion of customer privacy.
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