Mobile Banking Security - June 18

POLICE: Louisville man steals thousands via mobile banking
"A Louisville man has been arrested after police say he used mobile banking to steal thousands of dollars from multiple Kroger stores. Police say 34-year-old Boma Robert Spero-Jack went into several different Kroger stores and purchased at least 32 Western Union money orders. Each money order was issued for an amount between $195 and $500, according to an arrest report."

Mobile Banking On Unsecure Wireless Networks Is Risky Business
"Mobile banking is exploding. According to a new study from Yodlee Interactive, while physical banks continue their decline, nearly a third of U.S. adults with a bank account say they use a mobile device to access their banking information. The study conducted by Harris Interactive found that close to half of those with a bank account access their banking information on their smartphone compared to 36% of tablet owners who have a bank account."

Lenders work to make mobile banking safer and more convenient
"As more and more people use smartphones for everything from paying bills to making deposits and checking statements, banks are working to meet customer demands for faster and securer mobile options. A March report by the Federal Reserve shows that as of Nov. 28 percent of all mobile phone users and 48 percent of smartphone users had used mobile banking in the past 12 months. This was an increase of 7 percentage points from December 2011."

New Breed of Banking Malware Hijacks Text Messages
"Out of band authentication — communicating with a customer outside of his mobile banking app to verify his identity or a specific transaction — is a generally respected means of deflecting mobile banking fraud. But RSA's Anti-Fraud Command Center on Monday found and reported on a Trojan called Bugat that has been updated to hijack out-of-band authentication codes sent to bank customers via SMS. This doesn't mean out-of-band authentication via text messaging is useless, but it can be compromised using a dated, unsophisticated piece of malware."

Considering Mobile Authentication: The Why, the What and the How
"It's the single biggest banking innovation of our lives. Mobile banking is quickly becoming the channel of choice for customers, forcing banking institutions to deploy mobile solutions ahead of their strategies. What are the risks? How can institutions deputize customers to ensure mobile banking security? Join banking and security leaders from Citibank and VASCO Data Security for a frank discussion about how to create a mobile banking roadmap, including:"

Faces of Fraud: New Survey Debuts
"How are banking institutions responding to increasing cross-channel fraud attacks, and where are they making their biggest investments to enhance authentication for online and mobile banking? These are just two of the questions posed by our annual Faces of Fraud Survey, which we just launched. If you have not yet responded to this survey, please take a few moments to participate: 2013 Faces of Fraud: The Threat Evolution."