Member Article

Online financial transactions are top Internet security concern

Almost 98 per cent of computer users admit to enjoying the ease and convenience of shopping and banking on their PCs, Macs, tablets, and smartphones, according to Kaspersky Lab research[1]. Although convenient, online activities almost always create new security concerns – and cybercriminals are cashing in. Banking Trojans, ransomware and fakes of banking and shopping websites are just a few examples of the techniques crooks are using to steal money.

The survey revealed that online shopping is the most popular activity, with 95 per cent of respondents using these services. Online banking is close behind, used by 91 per cent, and about 74 per cent regularly use online payment services. The data also shows that most people use their PC or Mac for online financial transactions: 77 per cent of respondents use these devices to make purchases from online stores and 71 per cent for online banking.

It’s not just the good guys who are aware of these services – cybercriminals are eager to launch lucrative financial cyberattacks and turn e-commerce into real world robbery. In response, all reputable online services use a variety of technologies to protect their customers’ critical financial information. However, these measures alone are rarely enough to protect people from financial crime.

Stay ahead of the security game

Criminals out to steal money are ready to invest a lot of manpower and finances to organise sophisticated malicious attacks. The most effective way to combat them requires the use of online security, which is capable of staying ahead of new criminal activity and spotting attempts to intercept sensitive user data before financial credentials fall into the wrong hands.

This is the principle behind all of the protection technologies incorporated in Kaspersky Internet Security – Multi-Device, a comprehensive security solution for the devices working on Windows, OS X and Android operation systems. First, all products integrated in this solution - Kaspersky Internet Security, Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac and Kaspersky Internet Security for Android – are in constant contact with the Kaspersky Security Network cloud service, giving security technologies swift access to data about the latest cyberthreats. Fraudsters hope that they can beat antivirus databases by using new, unknown malware, but if just one of the 60 million users registered on Kaspersky Security Network encounters the new suspicious program, all other Kaspersky Lab product users will be protected against the threat within minutes of its detection.

PCs running Windows are attacked more often than devices running under other operating systems. That is why Kaspersky Lab’s solution for Windows PCs - Kaspersky Internet Security - now includes Safe Money, a high-class technology developed to protect the online financial transactions of customers. This technology combines an impressive range of capabilities, including:

• Automatically verifying security certificates for banks or online payment sites;
• Performing a scan to highlight any vulnerabilities on customers’ computers which could leave them vulnerable to an attack;
• Activating two levels of data-entry security technology – Secure Keyboard and Virtual Keyboard – which ensure passwords and credit card details can be typed without fear of interception.

Like any technology, online financial services have their pros and cons. Kaspersky Internet Security – Multi-Device incorporates proactive protection technologies to eliminate the key problem – financial fraud – while multiplying the positives of Internet payments.

About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.co.uk.

* The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2011. The rating was published in the IDC report “Worldwide Endpoint Security 2012–2016 Forecast and 2011 Vendor Shares (IDC #235930, July 2012). The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2011.

[1] media.kaspersky.com/pdf/Kaspersky_Lab_B2C_Summary_2013_final_EN.pdf

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alice Collins .