Security Flaws In Online Banking Found to Be Widespread

ACM TechNews writes that a University of Michigan study reveals that more than 75 percent of bank websites have at least one design flaw that could allow cybercriminals to either take money or identities from their customers.

UM Professor and doctoral students Laura Falk and Kevin Borders examined the websites for 214 financial institutions in 2006. Prakash said that some bnks may have taken steps to resolve the problems since then but that overall he still sees much need for improvement.

"To our surprise, design flaws that could compromise security were widespread and included some of the largest banks in the country," Prakash said. "Our focus was on users who try to be careful, but unfortunately some bank sites make it hard for customers to make the right security decisions when doing online banking."

The FDIC says that, while relatively rare compared with financial crimes like mortgage fraud and check fraud, computer intrusion is a growing problem for banks and their customers.

See complete article in UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN NEWS SERVICE.