SSL encryption 'must be in place on online banking'

The findings of a recent study by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has found that electronic security breaches prevail over paper breaches, a report has noted.

Commenting on the study, which discovered that at the end of 2008 approximately 35 million data records were exposed in 656 reported security reports, Ecommerce Journal stated that companies must take action.

It claimed that almost 40 per cent of security breaches are unreported because firms do not want to lose customers or damage their reputation. However, an online banking account must be assessed for its safety.

The bank website must use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption and most banking servers require browsers to connect at 128-bit encryption.

"SSL encryption prevents fraudsters from tapping into the exchange of information between the user's computer and the bank's server. All data transmitted become unreadable for third parties," the publication said.

However, the ITRC investigation found that only 2.4 per cent of websites that were hacked had SSL encryption or other significant protection methods.

Using an SSL server to process payments can improve the level of confidence of customers in the service they are using, technology reporter at Econsultancy Patricio Robles noted.

Written by Greig Daines