With online banking fraud increasing fast, here are some ways to protect your bank account and other data

Every other day, we come across news of online banking frauds where someone, unknowingly or beguiled, falls prey to fraudsters and loses their hard-earned money. There are cyber security laws in place to catch cybercriminals in such cases, but it becomes increasingly difficult to catch them if they are sitting abroad.

The best remedy is to be aware of the types of online fraud and the ways you can protect yourself. In this write-up, we will tell you how cybercriminals commit online fraud and how you can protect yourself.

Types of online frauds

Phishing and spoofing: Fraudsters use email or online messaging services to dupe people into sharing their login credentials, personal information, important data, or financial details.

Data Breach: From individuals to giant organisations, everyone falls victim to this type of fraud. Cybercriminals steal sensitive, protected, or confidential data from an online system and move it to an untrusted environment. They either ask for ransom or expose this data to some popular online platform.

Denial of Service (Dos): Fraudsters interrupt people or organisations to access online services, systems, or networks.

Malware: This is one of the most prevalent cyberattacks of all. Cybercriminals use malicious software to disable or damage users' devices and steal their sensitive or personal data.

Ransomware: Cybercriminals target big organisations or governments in this type of attack. They use malware that prevents people from using critical data. They demand a hefty ransom from users to restore services.

Business Email Compromise: In this type of fraud, businesses that make wire payments are targeted. The fraudsters attack legitimate email accounts of people and trick them into submitting unauthorised payments.

Prominent ways to protect your bank account:

Use Unique passwords for every account
This is the most basic and best technique to protect your account. Use different, unique, and strong passwords with uneasy guessability for all your online accounts, bank accounts, or anything else. Avoid using common knowledge such as your name, phone number, or city for the password. If you think that remembering unique passwords will be impossible for you, download a password manager to save all your passwords. Or, you can also choose a pattern and make slight changes to it to set different passwords. Some of the other tips for a password are to update it on a regular basis and be creative with the security questions.

Set two-factor authentication
One needs your password, identity proof, and OTP to log in to your account. It is better if you add one more layer of safety by adding two-factor authentication. One more authentication step will make hackers jobs much harder.

Stay cautious of public WiFi
Free Public WiFi is available at many public places these days. But since it is open source, it is vulnerable to cyberattacks. So, never use it to start online processes where your personal information, like a password, personal data, or sensitive information, is required. One solution to make tracking your online location harder is to use a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN helps connect your device to a different server on the internet.

Update your software regularly
Software updates that we get on our laptops, personal computers, or apps look very pesky or will consume a lot of time and data. But these are very important updates from a security point of view, as these updates are the patches that cover security holes in the operating systems. They can also save you from phishing or malicious online attacks that can harm your system's software. So, don't ignore them; consider them a means of your online identity security.

Install ad blockers
Maladvertising is a method through which cybercriminals create ads with malicious codes. These ads appear too lucrative to be true. They entice you, and you click on them, only to know that you have been hit by a cyberattack. These malware get downloaded on your system and steal your identity. It's best to download free ad blockers to stop such attacks on your system.

Protect identity through biometrics
Biometric login is also a good way to secure your online account. Biometrics include your fingerprint and facial recognition. It is much tougher to steal your biometrics than your password. However, in the recent past, we have seen cases where hackers have even stolen people's biometrics. A good solution for that is to e-lock. Biometrics theft has also become common, but many websites, including banks, provide facilities to e-lock them.

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