Windows and Online Banking, not a good marriage

[Wamukota]

Several users of the on-line banking facilities of Belgian banks were robbed of several thousands of euro's, due a a malware seed planted on their Windows boxesView http://wamukota.blogspot.com/2010/07/onlin...-expensive.html

[Ed_P]

Since the problem is limited to Belgium banks maybe a better headline would be:Belgium banks don't know Windows I've used online banking for over 20 yrs and never had a problem. And with Windows systems.As for getting banking users to boot up a Live CD every time they want to do banking, maybe in Belgium but unlikely anywhere else.

[Tushman]

Since the problem is limited to Belgium banks maybe a better headline would be:Belgium banks don't know Windows I've used online banking for over 20 yrs and never had a problem. And with Windows systems.As for getting banking users to boot up a Live CD every time they want to do banking, maybe in Belgium but unlikely anywhere else.

That's a very narrow minded & ignorant opinion of the Belgians to have based on one little piece of evidence. Belgium banks don't know Windows?? Incredible. How degrading of the Belgians. Millions of people in Belgium - they're so dumb how could they know anything smart about Windows right Ed?There was an article I read about South Korean banks where their websites were designed not so compatible with Firefox browsers. They finally fixed it a few months ago. Would you care to say that the South Korean banks don't know Windows either? And while were at it... how about the Germans? shish... sounds like the whole world is just dumb when it comes to online banking except for the USA. America is so good....we must be good at everything!I didn't know ignorance & incompetence was limited to Belgium banks. Maybe we should have more postings from our international community of members about their banking to show us how far superior the US banks are. I mean come on people, who's ever heard of something like this (or similar) happening in the good ole USA? Edited July 28, 2010 by Tushman

[Wamukota]

Ed_P,your reply to my posting is typical, and if that is the mentality of your fellow countrymen, then I pity you. Tushman, +1. I appreciate

[Urmas]

Let's try to keep the conversation polite, please!With so many banks operating internationally, these issues are no longer "just" domestic.A recent[ish] Finnish example HERE.CERT.FI published a warning about "application session hijacking" (Jan 28, 2010 – in Finnish, link HERE).Speaking as a "non Windows user"... according to the article, ALL the infections reported by Finnish users have been in PE (Portable Executable) format, targeting not only Windows XP but, in many cases, also newer versions of Windows. As for "browser integration" of these critters... some are IE specific (Browser Helper Object), but some make use of lower level libraries etc, so that they are "browser agnostic". But NOT OS agnostic.As for the role of AV software, CERT.FI warns that even though the role of an up-to-date AV software is crucial on Windows machines, they lag hours/days behind when it comes to detecting NEW threats. So, if one is really unlucky... and, once the computer is infected... many pieces of malware try to sabotage the resident AV software – typically by blocking the update mechanism.Me? I try to do all my online banking stuff with MY OWN computer. Period. If I have no choice but to use "strange" computers, I boot with "live Linux media".

[Guest LilBambi]

Yes, you are so right Urmas.Everyone needs to be aware of the dangers in online banking, which is why I wrote this little article:How to be Safer While Banking Online (Technorati)

SANS.edu (PDF) and Brian Krebs' Security Fix article entitled Avoid Windows Malware: Bank on a Live CD (Washington Post) recommend that Windows users should use a Live CD like Knoppix or Ubuntu to access their online banking.With so many companies being targeted by online criminal hackers - and so many high dollar successes - using a non-Windows and CD based, non-installed operating system that totally goes away on the next boot just makes perfect sense.The main reason a LiveCD is great for online banking is because you are loading a read-only CD which boots Linux (non-Windows) operating system. It does not touch the hard drive with your Windows operating system on it at all.In addition, even if your Windows operating system is totally infected with malware (malicious software including keyloggers, Trojans, backdoors or viruses, etc.), the malware does not load and can't hurt you when you do your online banking when booting from a Live CD. It is totally isolated. When you are done, just remove the CD and restart the computer into Windows as usual.More at Brian Krebs' Security Fix here.

And of course some previously US banks are now foreign banks, and the reverse is also true in some cases as well.Who owns who? (moneysupermarket.com)

Before the banking crisis, most savers wouldn't have thought twice about putting their money in a bank or building society account. But the events of the last couple of years have changed all this, so how do you keep your savings safe?

(And this article is just from the UK's perspective)And it is good to keep in mind...Failed Bank List (FDIC) (The list is updated frequently)296 US/US protectorate banks have failed.20 failed prior* to 2010, ALL the rest (276) failed in 2010 (so far).* This list includes banks which have failed since October 1, 2000.

[Tushman]

Let's try to keep the conversation polite, please!

You're right Urmas. Sorry about that - but it just gets me a little PO'd when people degrade an entire country or ethnic group based on one little piece of evidence and make generalizations about it. As a minority living in this country, I have seen all types of prejudice and stereotypes.

[zlim]

A bit off topic but related. I read an article this morning how someone showed at DefCon how to trick ATM machines into spitting out all the cash! Yikes. It looks like that might not be too safe either.Fortunately the guy works for a security company. But now the hackers know it is possible and I'll bet some of them may spend some time trying to figure this out too.