According to a study by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International, almost a third of users continue to be careless when making online transactions. This behavior puts their money at risk, but also creates problems for banks and electronic payment systems, as they may be required to compensate their customers for lost money. On this basis, everyone involved in an online transaction should take appropriate security measures to minimize potential risks.
Cybercriminals are not only interested in credit or debit card numbers. Online banking and payment account logins are also a constant target. However, 31% of respondents admitted that they do not pay much attention to the security of the pages where they enter personal or financial data. One in five users does not take any measures to protect the passwords they use to access these sensitive resources. In fact, 16% of respondents stated with certainty that “digital crime aimed at stealing money is a rare phenomenon” and that it is “unlikely that something like this will happen to them”.
30% of respondents store financial data on devices with Internet access. This would not be so dangerous if users always made sure to use special programs for secure data storage. But this is not the case. For example, only 58% of Android smartphones have a security solution installed. Even worse, 31% of smartphones and 41% of Android tablets do not use even basic security measures, such as setting a password to unlock the device before using it.
Meanwhile, many users are increasingly confronted with evidence that cybercriminals are constantly seeking financial information. In the past 12 months, 33% of respondents reported receiving suspicious emails claiming to be from a bank and asking for passwords or other information. In addition, 14% of users were redirected to websites requesting login details for online payment accounts.
“When users ignore security measures, they can fall victim to fraudsters. At the same time, banks often end up paying for this negligence. Seeing that there are many users who neglect their security, banks and electronic payment system operators must themselves take measures to protect against financial risks, but also safeguard their reputations, using specialized security solutions that have the ability to prevent digital crime,” said Ross Hogan, Global Head of the Fraud Prevention Division at Kaspersky Lab.
Kaspersky Fraud Prevention Platform provides specialized solutions that enable banks, payment processors and e-commerce companies to prevent fraud across their online and mobile channels. These solutions actively protect both end users and businesses, creating a secure experience for online service users. In addition, Kaspersky Fraud Prevention Platform prevents account hacking and phishing attempts, while simultaneously stopping and neutralizing malware infections.
Finally, Kaspersky Lab advises users to install security solutions that simultaneously cover multiple devices, even with different operating platforms, such as Kaspersky Internet Security – Multi-Device and Kaspersky Total Security – Multi-Device. These solutions, in addition to providing general protection against digital threats, also feature Safe Money technology, a special tool for protecting online transactions (suitable for Windows and OS X software). Kaspersky Total Security – Multi-Device also includes a special application for securely storing passwords and synchronizing login details between different devices.
