Online and mobile banking risks should be effectively managed says Kaspersky Lab at the GDS International CIO Africa Summit

‘Transforming Business and Driving Customer Centricity through the Intelligent Use of Technology and Data’ is the theme for this year’s GDS International CIO Africa Summit. Set to kick off tomorrow, in Cape Town, the event will bring together 70 senior decision makers and business leaders from across the region. Within the event Kaspersky Lab will highlight how technology can assist in overcoming some of the challenges businesses face, by examining the topic of ‘Online and Mobile Banking, and the potential risks that need to be covered’.

Says David Jacoby, Senior Security Researcher, Global Research & Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab, who will give his presentation at the event; “With the growth in number and sophistication of online and mobile cyber fraud, Kaspersky Lab is paying much attention to raising awareness on the topic - not just among home users - but for businesses as well. While a user may miss some cybercriminal activity that is going on when he is paying online or accessing his banking account, a solution, that is taken care of by an organisation that conducts the financial transaction, like Kaspersky Fraud Prevention, will be making sure every step a transaction goes through is safeguarded.”

A global study conducted by B2B International in 2013 indicated that 98% of Internet users manage their bank accounts via the Internet or shop online¹. Considering this, it comes as no surprise that there have also been reports of growing cybercriminal interest in this sector. In fact, in 2013, Kaspersky Lab protected some 1.9² million users from malware which was attempting to steal money from their bank accounts. This is cause for major concern for the financial services industry and all organisations that arrange online transactions globally.

Today, fraudsters are known to use a variety of methods to get hold of other people’s financial information. One such commonly used technique is social engineering, when people’s mistakes are exploited. However, information is also stolen without establishing personal contact – whereby cybercriminals intercept information in public Wi-Fi networks and use Trojan programmes to collect confidential data from user devices.

Another major risk factor for financial institutions is user orientation – where users tend to ignore basic security measures while interacting or working online. In fact, 28% of users tend to not check whether the website is authentic before they enter confidential information, and 34% connect to a public Wi-Fi network without a security solution installed on their device¹.

Cybercriminals are inventing new methods at a rapid rate to allow them to steal money from users’ electronic accounts. To counter this and to protect users against financial cyber threats - as well as to prevent a potential major blow to their reputation - financial companies should implement a specialised comprehensive solution that is capable of protecting them and their users against online fraud.

The solution used should be capable of detecting problems caused by user behaviour. It is also important to have a system that can work effectively regardless of the type of device the user is working with while conducting an online transaction. An example of such a solution is Kaspersky Fraud Prevention that combines Kaspersky Lab’s global security intelligence and innovative technologies, providing rigorous, multi-layered security for online banking and mobile banking transactions.

For more information on the GDS International CIO Africa Summit, please visit: http://www.gdsinternational.com/events/cio/africa/

For more information on Kaspersky Fraud Prevention, please visit: http://www.kaspersky.co.za/business-security/fraud-prevention

¹Consumer Security Risks Survey 2013, B2B International and Kaspersky Lab: http://media.kaspersky.com/pdf/Kaspersky_Lab_B2C_Summary_2013_final_EN.pdf

² According to Kaspersky Security Network data: http://www.kaspersky.com/images/KESB_Whitepaper_KSN_ENG_final.pdf