Gail asks:
Occasionally, I do financial transactions over the internet. I want to be able to do this and not have to worry about identity theft, some one hacking into my bank account, my computer etc.
What is the best free software that I can install to protect me while I am on the net?
If there aren’t any good free ones then, which is the best one to purchase for both my desktop and my laptop?
25 Answers -
Mulder
October 22, 2012You don’t need any software to safely conduct financial transactions. All banks and financial services providers are required to use secure transmission methods; that means your connection is secure, encrypted, and safe from hacking. This is easily verified by looking for the URL after you login to the site to begin with “https://” instead of just “http://”.
Even if by some remote chance your connection were to be intercepted by a third party, they would not get anything but an encrypted stream of data that would take them thousands of years to decrypt.
As for your bank account getting hacked into, that’s only possible if you don’t use a secure password and keep it safe, or use it for multiple web sites, which is a bad idea to begin with.
In short, you’re worrying over a very, very remote possibility, which is easily avoided.
Also, don’t click links in emails purporting to be from your bank/financial institution. Instead, set up a favorite to use to access the site since phishing schemes like to use slightly different URLs to lead you to a fake site. Also, don’t enter your login credentials if the URL is not secure (http vs https). There have been issues of sites not using a secure channel to pass the actual login information and switching to a secure channel only after the individual has logged in thereby allowing your username and password to be passed in the clear.By the way, there have been multiple hacks of SSL in the past and there will be more in the future. Also, the “thousands of years to decrypt” is very misleading as that is based purely on theory, not reality. There are many other “unbreakable” algorithms that have been cracked. It is only a matter of time before TLS falls.
October 22, 2012Yeah the whole idea that an algorithm cannot be hacked is a myth. Having said that, most of the online transactions done these days are fairly reliable.
October 22, 2012Contrary to your statement, SSL has not been hacked multiple times; it is very difficult to do so, and the only known hack uses a man-in-the-middle attack to intercept data in transit and decrypt it. But that decryption takes a long time, so unless the hacker knows they are getting the information for their specific target, it’s a useless effort.
The time I mentioned to decrypt an encrypted stream of data is based on reality, not theory as you state. You seem to overlook or conveniently ignore the fact that encryption is achieved by factoring two very large numbers; thus, the problem is factoring them out, which does take a very, very long time. This is precisely the reason that no government on Earth can decrypt a good encryption algorithm such as PGP.
I never said anything about encryption being unbreakable; I said it would take thousands of years, and that is 100% true.
October 22, 2012Another good suggestion given by Bruce. It does not take rocket science to realize a spam or fraud mail. Please keep curiosity on check, and trash it immediately.
October 24, 2012DalSan Mack
October 22, 2012Comodo Dragon (Google Chrome variant) and Comodo Ice Dragon (Firefox variant) offer better security over the original browsers. Having a good firewall like Comodo Firewall would help, also. Kaspersky is good for online banking security, but runs a little heavy on resources. Norton is decent. Most freeware or opensource software will not be as effective or offer that kind of protection.
You can keepass which is a password software encrypts all your online accounts including your bank, insurance etc and also facebook, email etc and there are other options to keepass as well..you just have to google them and you should be incognito or private browsing mode when doing any kind of transactions so that the cookies are not left in your cache of your computer. You can additionally use a onscreen keyboard which is provided by some banking sites and accounts or otherwise you can use certain software which you can google and you can choose CNET software rating to choose which ones are safe and also you can do malware and virus checks online to make sure those softwares are legit.
October 22, 2012I personally feel, this is a good suggestion given. Comodo is good company for security, however I would suggest you to install their free Comodo Internet security rather than only the Firewall. The Suite contains the Firewall, Anti-Virus, Anti Spyware and Malware. Also, very important do have a anti-phishing detector in place (very important for financial transactions). Lastly have ccleaner installed and everyday use it to delete off all the temp files associated will your browsers and apps installed. All the suggested software are free of cost.
October 24, 2012I agree with you since I use their free security suite. Best part is the ability to use their secure DNS servers for either just the browser or all internet activity. Offers very good protection for free, but Kaspersky and Norton offer more specific functions for online banking protections. For the most part, as long as you are a smart user, then Comodo Security Suite works fine with the other suggested software and tips. Nothing can protect user error, so it is important to keep a check on all suggested areas to look for.
October 24, 2012Kamran Mackey
October 22, 2012Avast! Internet Security
he need free one
October 22, 2012You can get a license for it for free when you search on youtube for Avast Internet Security 7 licence key.
October 22, 2012Is that legal ? … Just because you can steal something – doesn’t make it FREE.
October 31, 2012Harish Jonnalagadda
October 22, 2012I use Bitdefender’s browser for such cases, but most of the times you need not worry as long as the URl you are at is the bank’s gateway.. So, be vigilant when it comes to ensuring that you are at the correct website and the transaction itself should be secure.
Boni Oloff
October 22, 2012Kaspersky Internet security has a feature named Safe Money that designed to secure banking data and transaction.
as i know kaspersky internet security is not free one
October 22, 2012Yeah, at least it is a good alternatives if you want a premium protection
October 23, 2012Samarth Kulkarni
October 22, 2012To secure your financial transactions, According to me any internet security will work like Avast, Kaspersky, AVG etc. if you want more protection than normal you have to install software’s to hide your IP address like hide my ip etc.
Jamshid Rasulev
October 22, 2012Most of the Internet security suites have such features as anti-phishing, sandbox, data eraser. Last version of Kaspersky IS is one of the outstanding security suites, which provides safe money transaction.
ha14
October 22, 2012As they already mentioned internet security software comes with anti-phishing feature, but you can add extra layer of security by installing antilogger software.
Zemana AntiLogger: Financial Malware Protection
http://www.zemana.com/product/antilogger/overview/
Six rules for safer financial transactions online
http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/finances-rules.aspx
How to know if an online transaction is secure
http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows-vista/How-to-know-if-an-online-transaction-is-secure
Use secured connection when you are making an online transaction. https:// instead of http:// . check for a secured lock symbol in front of https:// which means it’s a secured connection.
Dylan Thompson
October 22, 2012Bitdefender has a good safe pay program.
Adrian Rea
October 22, 2012No form of banking can be described totally secure. All banking has an element of risk, you could have someone look over your shoulder at the cash machine, and employee at the bank could falsify your signature, or someone could clone your card and use it elsewhere without your knowledge. We generally seem to be more aware of these threats. But we need to become vigilant in daily life, online and on the street. So always be suspicious, never give details your bank would not ask for, check for the https before the url. As said, do not use links posted in an email, have malware, antivirus, and operating system up to date. Make sure you think about responding to hyped situations like a contact saying your account is closed. You will most likely be fine, just remember to look over your shoulder and check your statement
susendeep dutta
October 22, 2012Besides a good protective suite,you need to make sure that your PC or laptop is also clean i.e. free from malware,suspicious software.Any software with this level of protection doesn’t comes free unless you use Microsoft security Essentials as it’s good enough to keep you protected and as others has suggested,most of the banking and online transactions are secured.Keeping your Windows OS on both of your machines will increase your security.
Dino Pearsons
October 22, 2012The best way of protection is user diligence. If you’re careful about what you’re doing while conducting transactions, you’ll be alright.
Anti-virus software combined with firewalls helps, making sure your system is free of any trojans and key-loggers. Microsoft Security Essentials is decent enough, but you can go for Avast! or AVG if you want to.
Always double check any mails that claim to be from your financial institutions. Gmail’s spam filter is good about picking those up. Additionally, using Chrome is good as well as it will prevent you from accessing known phishing sites.
Harshit Jain
October 22, 2012Just make sure you are using the latest version of the browser, install a decent paid antivirus like norton or kaspersky and use common sense where to share critical information. Nothing is 100% safe.
Jan Fritsch
October 22, 2012As it was already pointed out the “software” is only a part of security. The bigger part simply is the user being aware of everything he/she does and clicks.
For example a technique most fishing mails and sites use is and URL similar to the actual bank. So instead of having “www.yourbank.com” they would be something like “www.yourbank.com.to” or maybe “www.yourbank.xyz.com”.
The basic and most important security for financial transactions comes from the bank itself by offering or better enforcing an encrypted connection (https) with a verified certificate (SSL certificate).
Having that said neither means you are 100% secure. If there is a key-logger on your system it doesn’t matter that the data is encrypted. Also it has been proven that SSL certificates can be forged.
So I think the two most important steps are:
1. make sure your system is “clean” by running an up-to-date anti virus and by NOT downloading “random” stuff
2. make sure you are visiting a “real website” e.g. don’t click direct links to online banking from a third party, always enter the banks address manually and click their link to the online banking access
GuyMcD
October 22, 2012None. There is no software or hardware that will protect you 100%. There is always someone finding a way around security. The only computer that is 100% safe from attacks via the Internet is one that is NOT connected to the Internet.
Now, that being said, If you are doing on-line banking with a reputable bank, they will have sufficient security integrated with their website and applications.
If you are doing business with a reputable website, such as the big ones like Amazon, NewEgg, etc., they have gone through the trouble to ensure that they have sufficient security integrated with their website as well.
When you are dealing with smaller companies, look for ones that utilize a reputable payment processing service such as PayPal or WorldPay. By signing up with these services, they are doing everything possible to provide you with a secure transaction.
Declan Lopez
October 23, 2012you could boot a live operating system from a flash drive and do your transactions on that and when you reboot your computer there will be no information saved on it
Harshit Jain
October 23, 2012I think it is “Common Sense Internet Security 2013″. Really it is takes nothing more than a just common sense to find that every major security suite can work for you but the only problem lies with the user who may fall into phishing or he himself uses outdated software with dozens of vulnerabilities.
Manuel Guillermo López Buenfil
October 23, 2012You should install Web of Trust.
WOT is a free add-on available for most browsers.
It displays a small circle at the top of your browser showing the reputation of the current website. If you are going to make a transaction over the internet, just check that the circle is green (good). If it is yellow or red, it means that the website is not safe.
WOT is available here:
http://www.mywot.com/
Nikhil Chandak
October 24, 2012Avira Antivirus
Advance System Care
Microsoft Security Essentials
Caroline West
October 24, 2012Continuing on from the general theme; most Banks have a very secure, encrypted way of protecting your data. When I first used Internet Banking with my Bank/Building Society, I was provided with a service called “Rapport” which is extra security.
If you do a search for Rapport, you can find out if it is compatible with your Bank. (btw it is free).
And lastly you can always contact your Bank and see what they have to offer.
Aniket Singh
October 25, 2012Bitdefender Safepay
mohit kumar
October 26, 2012Don’t use chrome. Use Firefox. Use bitdefender, peerblock etc.
Raghav Gupta
November 3, 2012Bitdefender Safebox
Abba Jee
November 27, 2012why don’t you try linux live OS? it’s free & safer for financial transactions over the internet
“why don’t you try linux live OS? it’s free & safer for financial transactions over the internet”
Linux LiveCD only secures the data on the computer it is run on. Once the data leaves that computer, Linux can no longer protect it. From that point the security of the financial transaction depends on how secure the bank’s server is.
January 30, 2013dragonmouth
January 30, 2013“All banks and financial services providers are required to use secure transmission methods; that means your connection is secure, encrypted, and safe from hacking.”
If that is so why are millions of credit card numbers being stolen?