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Tips to beat hackers
Have you tried
transferring money online lately? It can get quite complex in the case of some
banks. In the opening website, you give only your customer ID and press enter.
The screen then moves onto another page that asks for the password.
Only then does it access the account. Once you ask
for funds transfer, the system rather then carrying out the request immediately
could first ask several questions.
If the figure is big, it could even ask you to do
things like keying in a distorted word on display . Only after all that will
the transaction go through.
Safer
transaction on Net
The whole
process that normally takes less than 10 minutes could go on for 20 minutes. It
becomes almost a memory test, you have to remember the password, and things
like your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, address pincode.
Security service providers today offer a variety
of such solutions.
One-minute
password
One of these
involves issuing a smart card or token which has changing numbers in them. When
a user logs into his bank or brokerage website, he will be asked to fill in not
just his password but also the additional number given in the token. The token number is a set of 7 to 8
digits that changes every 30 or 60 seconds.
Tracking user behavior
Another dynamic
security solution involves keeping an active account of user behaviour and
taking action accordingly.
Thus, the system will note the IP address from
which you normally log in to the account, the nature of activities you normally
conduct with the bank, the browser you use and the version of it, and even may
be the resolution of your monitor.
The need for
security
The need for more sophisticated security measures are
arising from the fact that cyber crime is on the rise. There was a time when
hackers hacked for fun. Increasingly, they are doing it for financial gains.
“A week ago a friend of mine saw an entry in her
bank statement that indicated she had bought an air ticket for Rs 10,000 which
she had not,” says Vijay Mukhi, a member of the advisory board on cyber
security of the Indian government .
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