The Financial Services Authority has suggested that consumers are failing to bank “responsibly” on the internet.
The regulator adds that banks ought to do more to help consumers learn safer online banking habits.
Commenting on the report, Andrew Moloney, Senior Consumer Product Marketing Manager at internet security firm RSA Security, said: "The FSA’s assessment of consumer failure to bank securely online should come as no surprise – a recent survey we conducted found that nearly 55pc of people, when questioned in the street by a stranger, freely explained how they devise their online passwords. Banks and other online business should realise that the responsibility for fraud and identity protection cannot lie with the consumer. Identity theft is now an industry in its own right – expecting the man in the street to continually keep one step ahead of sophisticated cybercriminals is absurd.
A responsibility
"Banks do have a responsibility to educate their customers about online threats, in the same way that insurance companies have a responsibility to remind their customers to keep their valuables out of sight in locked cars, but that alone is never going to be sufficient protection. Technology will always play a crucial role in identity theft prevention, ,the ideal situation being one where anti-fraud technology is working silently in the background and the user doesn’t even know about it. The Internet affords the consumer a huge choice of where to shop and bank and – unobtrusive yet effective security should therefore be an integral part of the operation and customer care afforded by these businesses to their customers. As a further measure, banks and other financial institutions should be working together to pool intelligence and information in real time against this ever increasing threat. There are sophisticated networks dedicated to real time monitoring and prevention of phishing and pharming attacks, with professional services bringing down these fraudulent sites on behalf of their clients. The power of such networks relies on the participation of the banking industry as a whole, and have the potential to benefit both the industry and its customers.”
