Introduction:
Assessment of the threats associated with using portable devices to access banking services is one of the critical concerns for both financial institutions as well as their consumers (Kandasamy et al.2020). With the continuous evolution of technology, the convenience of accessing a range of baking services using tablets, laptops and smartphones besides other portable devices has increasingly become common and user-friendly (Blanke and McGrady, 2016). However, this convenience comes with different security threats, such as unauthorized access, viruses and malware, network vulnerabilities, device security, phishing attacks, account turnover and fraudulent activities, biometric security threats and concerns about data privacy (Majdalawieh et al.2022). This report is going to present an assessment of threats of using portable devices for banking services and associated mitigation strategies.
An assessment of the threats associated with employing portable devices to access banking services:
Unauthorized access:
Theft of passwords:
Cybercriminals are responsible for stealing PINs, biometric details or login credentials by employing keyloggers, social engineering or phishing attacks (Tweneboah-Koduah et al.2017).
Stolen or lost devices:
If a portable device is stolen or lost, unauthorized persons could avail access to the confidential baking data of the owner of that device (Blanke and McGrady, 2016).
Viruses and malware:
Corrupted apps:
The users of the portable devices inadvertently end up downloading different corrupted apps that end up compromising the security of their devices followed by accessing their banking details (Almaiah et al.2022).
Drive-by download:
Visiting malicious websites is responsible for leading to a malware infection that compromises the security of the device (Zhang et al.2018).
Network vulnerabilities:
Public Wi-Fi:
Registering portable devices to public Wi-Fi could expose users to threats like man-in-middle attacks or eavesdropping, significantly intercepting their banking information (Blanke and McGrady, 2016).
Poor encryption:
Unprotected network connections are responsible for leading to information interception during transmission (Zhang et al.2018).
Phishing attempts:
Email or SMS phishing:
Cybercriminals search for scopes to send fraud emails or SMS that clone the baking institution for tracking the users into providing all their personal details and login credentials to the malicious actors (Tweneboah-Koduah et al.2017).
Social engineering:
The cybercriminals are responsible for impersonating banking professionals followed by manipulating the owners of the portable devices into divulging their sensitive banking details (Majdalawieh et al.2022).
Device safety:
Outdated apps and software:
Failing to keep the device apps and operating systems updated could leave the cybersecurity vulnerabilities exposed and unpatched (Zhang et al.2018).
Poor lock screen:
The absence of strong and effective lock screen techniques results in making it easier for hackers to gain access to the devices (Kandasamy et al.2020).
Biometric security issues:
Face and fingerprint recognition:
Biometric details could be stolen or spoofed, even after being highly secured as compared to conventional passwords (Elzamly et al.2016).
Account fraud and takeover:
Credential stuffing:
The hackers these days have efficacy in using the stolen credentials from other security breaches to have access to the bank accounts (Majdalawieh et al.2022).
Transaction corruption:
Unauthorized transactions may take place if a hacker acquires access to the baking apps (Richard and Mandari, 2018).
Concerns with data privacy:
Data sharing:
Certain baking applications end up requesting extensive personal that end up compromises the privacy of the users by gaining access to their private details on the device (Tweneboah-Koduah et al.2017).
Location and social media information:
Social media data leakage:
Publicly shared details on social networking sites serve as clues for the attackers regarding the security questions about their targets (Elzamly et al.2016).
Locational details:
Banking apps sometimes access location details, revealing potentially the whereabouts of a user (Kandasamy et al.2020).
The mitigation strategies to prevent banking fraud:
The users must enable multifactor authentication to increase the security of their devices while keeping the software, firmware, antivirus and apps installed in their portable devices updated (Khoa, 2020). Additionally, they are required to avoid registering their devices to public Wi-Fi while conducting confidential transactions. Furthermore, the banks must provide user education and training on secure banking practices and cybersecurity hygiene (Vinoth et al.2022). The users must be encouraged to use unique and strong passwords for their banking accounts by reviewing the account functions regularly to detect any suspicious transactions (Elzamly et al.2016).
Conclusion:
In the end, it is concluded that, on the one hand, portable devices provide users with a high level of convenience and user-friendliness for banking services (Kandasamy et al.2020). On the other hand, these conveniences involve their own associated vulnerabilities and concerns (Khoa, 2020). Therefore, both the users, as well as the financial institutions, should always stay vigilant in order to develop enough defences against the emerging and sophisticated cyber threats and risks in this continuously evolving digital landscape (Vinoth et al.2022).
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