those with online accounts (1 Viewer)

[klh]

e.g. those with accounts like those from ing, bankwest etc with that online account and high interest...
I want to ask how "safe" it is opening them and the process to transfer money.
I want to open one as i have a nice sum id like to work for me instead of laying under the bed in my tin, but my mother is saying how inconvenient and unsafe it is.
i need some arguments to quash these rumours and that it aint conveneint, since i do spend a significant amount of time on the net.

thanks!!!

EDIT: what i mean by safe as in safe on the internetwise and the financial insitution itself. Um, mum used to work in a bank and her bank went bankrupt so she still is a bit sceptical about banks and tha they care onyl for themselves, which to a certain extent they do...

 

[doe]

as long as its an australian bank using ssl its safe. look for https:// (vs http://) in the url, and the little lock icon in your browser. if your browser pops up a warning (any warning) about the ssl certificate, stop whatever you're doing and call the bank, as something is very wrong.

just pay attention and remember your bank will never email you for your password.

i have been using it for years now and never had a problem. i find it very convient.

australian banks are regularted by apra, they have requirements ensuring security and the amount of cash they keep on hand, and they will lose their banking license if they dont comply. i have accounts with suncorp, hsbc and westpac. in the off chance the bank does go bankrupt, the federal reserve has enough cash on hand to payout all or a portion of deposits held.

a few more things, i work as a security consultant, so auditing the security of online systems is what i do for a living, and its safe enough for me. on all my accounts i dont give them my email address, or ask when i open the account that i am not to be contacted by email, partly because email is insecure and partly because then i will never have any doubt about phishing.

just dont trust anything except the little lock icon.

 

[klh]

when there is a pop up about the ssl certificates, what do you do then? sign out, close the window err....what?
thanks for the info mate!

 

[theone123]

The foreign banks are just as safe as any other Australian Bank, the reason is because to satisfy APRA, ASX, ACCC regulations and such. Also because to operate as a bank in Australia, they need to hold a considerable value of assets here to show that they won't run off or something like that. So hence you should be rest assured your money is in safe hands.

 

[theone123]

when there is a pop up about the ssl certificates, what do you do then? sign out, close the window err....what?
thanks for the info mate!

forget what he is talking about.. basically all banks use SSL certificates

 

[doe]

yeah sign out. the transfer goes like this

browser (you) -> server (website), give me your certificate
server -> browser, here you go
broswer checks
- the name of the website matches the name in the certificate
- if the certificate has expired
- if you trust the people that verify the certificate
if all thats ok, the browser will then establish a secure connection and the page will be delivered over that. if anything is wrong it will pop up a message. there shouldnt be anything wrong though. if something pops up, dont proceed, and wait a few hours to see if the bank resolves it or call the bank.

other sites may generate their own certificates rather than pay a "trusted" authority to generate one for them. in this case the browser will complain you dont trust the authority, and usually this is ok. for stuff like banks though, this shouldnt happen.

so the ssl cert basically proves the site foo.bar.com is really foo.bar.com, not some phisher, and encrypts the traffice between the browser and the server, so noone can see it.

http://www.modemsite.com/56k/subssl.htm

 

[doe]

The foreign banks are just as safe as any other Australian Bank, the reason is because to satisfy APRA, ASX, ACCC regulations and such. Also because to operate as a bank in Australia, they need to hold a considerable value of assets here to show that they won't run off or something like that. So hence you should be rest assured your money is in safe hands.

if a bank is operating in australia, it has an australian banking license, so i call it australian. so hsbc may have foreign ownership, but because its operating in australia, its probably going to be ok. i just wouldnt sign up for any bank of zimbabwe accounts, just yet

 

[theone123]

hey sometimes i come accross, pages that say there maybe an insecure connection and the lock disappears but you dont get to see anything, sould you jus close the browser by clicking x or still log off?

 

[doe]

im not sure what you mean. sometimes a website may have the images stored on a server not using ssl, you get the message "this webpage has both secure and non-secure components, do you want to keep loading?" or something similar. this is usually the work of a retarded webdeveloper.

logging off or closing the browser doesnt really matter. its only when youve put sensitive data (like your username and password) in a form and are clicking a button to log in that it matters. its probably best to log off as it means the application can delete any temporary data it created for you as part of the application, but you shouldnt have to worry about that really.

if you're not sure, just ask yourself 'what information am i giving this site?' if its something like a username or password, its best to play it safe and wait untill things work as you expect. if you've already logged in and are browsing around, try refresh the page or go back and try again.

 

[Emily.]

ing direct is very safe
it opens up in a separate window and its very very secure

you shouldnt stress really, theres a significant amount of documentation so that if anything did happen you would have a case against them with whoever the regulatory body is

 

[LeftrightOut]

You're more likely to have your account details stolen from:
- having a trojan on your computer
- the bank database getting hacked
- falling for a phishing scam

than from someone doing a proper man in the middle attack.

I'd hazard a guess and say most people who lose their bank details online are the type who are too gullible and should not be doing their banking online in the first place.

I only know of one bank that went bankrupt where you couldn't see it publicly from a mile away and that was Barings.

 

[iambored]

I think it's safer for you to keep your money in the bank than in the house. It might be a good idea to start an ing account and then an account from another bank and put half the money in each, this was you don't have all your money in the one place - you might feel more secure if you're worried

 

[doe]

I think it's safer for you to keep your money in the bank than in the house. It might be a good idea to start an ing account and then another and put half the money in each, this was you don't have all your money in the one place

yers. its easy to forget about the basics of crime. if i want your money, am i gonna spend thousands of dollars and a few months trying to hack into a bank or hire a few thugs for a few hundred dollars to break into your house while youre out?

 

[xeuyrawp]

Also, don't save your password and login on your computer.
You might say "well if they've broken into my house, who cares", but you will

I use comm'wealth netbank frequently along with BPay, and they have never let me down.

 

[klh]

Thanks all!! Appreciate your replies.

 

[Skittled]

ing direct is very safe
it opens up in a separate window and its very very secure

What's so great about banks opening up different windows? Never quite understood that. Maybe to break free of frames/javascript? Anyone explain?

ING bugs me. Gotta click little numbers on an ever-changing fake pin pad. It's like some bad timezone game. Find your numbers and get your money back!

...I suppose it's not quite that bad.... but it's pretty close

 

[doe]

What's so great about banks opening up different windows? Never quite understood that. Maybe to break free of frames/javascript? Anyone explain?

ING bugs me. Gotta click little numbers on an ever-changing fake pin pad. It's like some bad timezone game. Find your numbers and get your money back!

...I suppose it's not quite that bad.... but it's pretty close

i see no reason either.

in fact it kinda pisses me off. just open in the damn window i clicked the link in.

 

[HellVeN]

Be wary of key loggers - programs that store every key that you type on your keyboard. They can be pretty hard to detect sometimes. Just make sure that you have a nice antivirus and don't download suspicious files without having scanned them for viruses. A nice firewall on top of that and you shoud be fine.

 

[7th Sign]

i invest with ing its quite good i get around $15 interest on my money per month

its 5.75% interest

of course you can get figures like 7.80% but their with shifty ompanies like areb investments aussie :|

you can also get onto investement people and deal with term deposits i have money in 2 year term deposit ganing around 6% which i pretty shit compared to other companies that offer like 12%

 

[theone123]

yay CBA now got an online savings account

http://www.netbanksaver.com.au/

5.40% pa cal. daily and paid monthly with no monthly fees.