Online banking is a tough business. In fact some of the bank’s security systems are jeopardizing information security. We all know that are banking information is supposed to be completely private, and accessing someone else’s information without permission has its own punishments. But how do the banks know when an unauthorized user is getting into your account?

The trick lies with a program that accesses your personal computer’s information as you log in. This program looks at your device information to verify that it is the one that you normally use. It also has a tagging system which marks computers that are thought to be involved with hacking their networks.

This works very well for protecting your account, but there haven’t been any measures taken to insure that the information collected by the banks is being used correctly. These banks could turn around and sell all of your private computer information to advertisers if they wanted. Although no such thing has taken place to my knowledge, there is nothing there to say they can’t. It is even possible that this information could be hacked into and stolen.

If you’re like me, I’m sure you’re concerned about your banking information. Your information should remain secure as long as no one is able to get your personal user ID and password. This is why it is so important that you don’t give away that information to just anyone.

There are other programs that are used by banks that work just like the tagging system, but they work with other information. Some programs are able to determine what language, time zone, Flash ID, browser, cookies, and IP address is being used on the computers you use to access your account. You may be able to see your information on your roommate’s computer, but if you try using a computer across the country it might not work. A percentage of the factors have to add up in this system in order for you to see your banking information. Although this does provide an extra amount of security, it is risking your information in other ways.

Source: CNET

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