South African consumers would rather visit bank branches despite internet banking proliferation

Conversely, an overall majority of South African bank customers (64%) feel vulnerable when conducting online transactions, according to a survey by security firm Kaspersky Lab in conjunction with B2B International company, mobilemoneyafrica.com reports. No less than 43% of South Africans feel that traditional over-the-counter transactions are safer than internet banking.

Despite that, Kaspersky found that when people go online, they fail to take basic security measures to protect their accounts. Security experts have found that despite storing details such as log ins, passwords and even IDs on smartphones, people generally fail to use strong passwords on their gadgets.

Criminals can compromise bank accounts by setting up a phishing page where people unwittingly hand over key details like usernames and passwords. Despite fears over cyber crime, 74% of South African internet users used computers for online payments, 22% used smartphones and 32% used smartphones. A Trend Micro report recently said that just three malware applications make up the majority of attacks on the financial system in South Africa.

They are: SWISYN, which makes up 37% of detections, followed by DORKBOT (27%) and ZEUS/ZBOT (23%). These applications are able to steal log-in credentials, copy key strokes and download additional malware on to compromised PCs.