Online banking  service offers customers access to banking services at the click of a button and facilitates customers to perform a range of financial transactions at their own convenience.

Online banking is prone to security threats, as cyber fraudsters try to come up with new ways to defraud digital users for financial gains. Some very common online banking related threats include: 

Phishing

It is a way of attempting to acquire Personal Information (PI) of digital users by masquerading as a trustworthy entity through email.

  • Examples of PI - usernames, passwords, PIN, bank account details, credit/debit card details etc.,
  • Ways of phishing – email spoofing, fake links/websites etc.,

Smishing 

Smishing is another variation of ‘Phishing’ wherein a Short Service Message (SMS) or a text message is used in an attempt to gather Personal/Financial information of users, for committing financial frauds.

  • Ways of Smishing-
    • text messages are spoofed, which makes them appear to be from authentic sources.
    • Fraudsters may also send fraudulent malware infested links that masquerade a legitimate app or a link to mislead users to a fake site for gathering information.

Few Dangers of Phishing, Vishing and Smishing attacks

  • Financial loss
  • Leak and misuse of Personal Identifiable Information (PII)
  • Malware attack
  • Account Hacking
  • Unauthorized access to devices /data
  • Spam messages