The research, carried out by UK consumer protection and advocacy group Which?, has assessed ten local financial services providers and has singled out Abbey and Halifax as having the least secure online banking log-in procedures. According to Which? Computing, the two banks leave consumers exposed to keylogger viruses by asking them to type three pieces of information in full as they log in to their online banking accounts.
Which? experts quote APACS 2008 figures which blame keylogging software for online banking fraud soaring to GBP 52.5 million in 2008 compared to GBP 22.6 million in 2007.
Other banks assessed by Which? were Alliance & Leicester and HSBC, whose online banking security protocols were deemed “average”; internet banking security measures deployed by First Direct, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide, NatWest and RBS were rated “good”, while Barclays was the only bank whose consumer-facing security protocols for banking online were rated “excellent”.
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