Phishing Erodes Customers’ Trust on Online Banking

Customers are responding less to e-mails coming from banks as a phishing scam posing to be originating from various financial institutions erode the confidence in electronic messaging, finds a survey on online fraud.

Australians by and large are susceptible to fall for phishing schemes as they lack awareness about them.

After conducting an online survey in December 2006, RSA, EMC's Security Division released the results of its 4th annual Financial Institution Consumer Online Fraud Survey covering eight countries across the globe including Australia. It collected their opinions about different fraud threats like phishing and keylogging. It also asked them what they thought about the initiatives taken by their financial firms in strengthening online banking authentication.

From the survey results, security firm, RSA reported that 35 percent of respondents from Australia knew nothing about phishing while 31 percent in Britain & just 17 percent in the U.S. too were unaware of it.

The survey also found that 91 percent of the respondents having online bank accounts were ready to have a new authentication technique in place of the usual username and password, if the banks were prepared to strengthen customers' security.

In the meantime faith in online channel goes on to obliterate. According to the survey, 82 percent of the account holders chose to never respond to e-mails from banks owing to scams such as phishing, which rose higher than 79 percent in 2005 & 70 percent in 2004. More than 50 percent said they would not sign-up for online banking for the same reason. Some account holders about 44 percent expressed concern about other kinds of attacks too like Trojan programs and keyloggers.

The survey found people across the world asking banks to improve their online security operations and also communicate them to customers.

The general consensus was that security should be managed quietly and financial institutions must value customers' trust on them to maintain the safety of their information and assets, said Mark Pullen - RSA Australia manager, in a statement on February 6, 2007 for Australianit. As people became more aware of ID theft & online fraud, they need assurance of their protection.

Related article: Phishing With A Redirector Code

» SPAMfighter News - 2/14/2007