The Advent Of Cyber Crimes And Tips To Combat Them

To keep customer's money safe, financial institutions worldwide use two-factor authentication.

We have used them for our bank accounts. How?

Remember those short, 4 to 6-digit codes that you receive from your bank when you try to log in for the first time on a new device, or when you have to input to approve a transaction.

Banks send these one-time passwords through SMS text messages. SMS is, unfortunately, one of the weakest ways to implement 2FA because text messages are interceptable, as agreed by cyber law firms in India.

Are we being paranoid? No.

Here is an incident that happened in the UK.

Telecom protocol SS7 was hacked by crooks to steal banking two-factor authentication codes.

Judging by the media headlines, it's the golden age for online scams. High payoffs and the moderately low risk of detection are an inspiration for criminals to "go online." Some groups break up or are caught by law enforcement, but newer groups pop up with more sophisticated attack techniques and take their place. Banks and cyber law firms in India suggest individuals take care that they don't come under the influence of calls or random text messages they receive. Here are some tips that can help you protect your bank account.

1. Be cautious of your emails

• Phishing is an effective attacking agent as it exploits natural human weaknesses.

• You can combat phishing by staying hyper-vigilant while checking your emails.

• Be careful of any links included in the emails you receive

• Avoid opening attachments unless they are absolutely necessary

• Always remember that a legitimate bank will never ask for your complete password, PIN, or other credentials.

2. Use two-factor authentication or 2FA

• 2FA acts as an extra layer of security as it requires you to input a unique code in addition to your regular username and password.

• A lot of banks these days offer 2FA in the form of a small device. This device generates a new code that you need to enter every time you log in.

• Also, remember that text messaging 2FA is not a foolproof solution and can be hijacked easily.

3. Keep your software up to date

• Most of the cyber attacks rely on exploiting security flaws in a piece of software.

• These vulnerabilities are fixed when developers release updates that support the security of their application.

• An up to date software helps to minimise the risk of becoming a victim of a banking attack.

• Enable automatic updates wherever possible.

4. Don’t enter sensitive information while on public Wi-Fi

• Public Wi-Fi has become increasingly accessible in recent years, and now people trust it with closed eyes and allow access to many permissions while logging in.

• Public Wi-Fi is many times left unencrypted and unsecured, and people connecting to them become easy prey for attacks.

• In addition, the fact that whether the Wi-Fi you are connecting to is a rogue or genuine hotspot is also less. A rogue hotspot is a free public network established by an attacker to gain access to your personal information. Banking credentials should never be input on public Wi-Fi.

5. Enable account notifications

• Banks give you the option to enable notifications that give an alert when certain activities take place on your account.

• For instance, a person could set this up to receive a text if a certain amount of money is withdrawn or the funds in his/her account reach a specified threshold.

• Account notifications are not an active way to prevent banking attacks, but they can help in quick detection of suspicious activity and give a headstart on stopping the attack.

Stay safe online and have a malware-free and a fantastic day!

Cyber law firms in India can help you with cyber law advisory, cybercrime consultancy, cyber law compliance audit, cybersecurity services, cyber forensics services and cyber training.