What do you know about the strength of security behind your online accounts? Beyond creating a strong username and password, you have likely left account safety in the hands of your bank. Luckily, with professional guidance from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), banks are continually strengthening online security measures.
Online Banking Security Factors
The first step in the online security is verification that you are who you claim to be. Measures like multi-factor authentication and layered security help assure safer internet transactions.
Multi-Factor Authentication
To confirm someone has not stolen your identity, you are asked to enter information only you know, have or are – for example, a password or PIN, ATM card or fingerprint – to log into your bank account. Unfortunately, it has become much easier to obtain someone’s password, PIN or card, which is where multi-factor authentication comes into play. It is a much stronger fraud deterrent to use more than one of these methods – for instance, a thief may have picked up your lost card, but they fail to enter the correct PIN at the ATM.
Layered Security
This measure of increased online security refers to the use of different controls at different points in the process of a transaction. One example of layered security is using your login information to access you bank account, then providing additional information to authorize a funds transfer. This factor is intended to strengthen the overall security of online banking transactions by:
- Protecting sensitive customer information.
- Preventing identity theft.
- Reducing account takeovers and financial loss.
Another purpose of layered security is to allow your bank a way to authenticate customers, detect and respond to suspicious account activity, and reconfirm your authentication for further transactions with other parties.
Risk Assessment for Banks
To ensure there are appropriate levels of authentication for each transaction’s level of risk, a bank’s risk assessments consider:
- Changes in the internal and external threat environment.
- Changes in the customer base adopting electronic banking.
- Changes in the customer functionality offered through electronic banking.
- Actual incidents of security breaches, identity theft or fraud experienced by the institution or banking industry.
Further verification processes may include voice identification, analyzing account activity for suspicious patterns and setting dollar limits that require manual intervention to exceed.
Online Defense Starts with the Customer
While financial institutions do what they can to keep their online banking systems secure, it is important for the average person to also understand the risks and latest fraudulent scams. Starting with your computer, you can help keep your personal information secure by regularly installing and updating your anti-virus software, firewalls and operating systems.
If you notice suspicious account activity or experience security-related events like phishing emails, contact Ion Bank to have these issues addressed and resolved.