Mobile Banking Security - Apr 4

Hacker Intrusion Worries Slow Mobile Banking, Fed Official Says
"U.S. consumer concerns that hackers may gain access to private financial information are slowing use of smartphones and mobile devices for personal banking, said Sandra Braunstein, director of the Federal Reserve’s consumer and community affairs division.

'Consumers expressed concerns about hackers gaining access to their phones and exposing their personal financial information,' Braunstein said in remarks prepared for testimony today to the Senate Banking Committee in Washington."

Experts Ponder Which Security Threats May Gain Speed
"Wake up and smell the hack. 'Mobile banking, I would argue, presently, is significantly more secure than is online banking,' said Kevin Travis, a partner with Novantas, a New York-based management consulting firm.

For skeptics, that may be the shocker. Some financial IT consultants insist that, although online banking is 20 years old and mobile is younger, maturity has not necessarily produced a safer banking platform when users log into their accounts, typically via a Windows PC or laptop. Windows claims about 92% of computers versus 6% for Apple and 2% for all others."

How safe are your mobile banking apps?
"How safe are your mobile banking apps? Not very, based on the findings of a 2011 study by digital forensics and security firm, viaForensics. According to the study, 25% of the mobile banking apps tested didn’t provide adequate security: passwords, partial credit card details, payment history and transaction details were easily retrieved from the handset. What’s more, another 31% of banking apps had less severe security issues with 44% offering adequate security."