As president of the Sunshine Coast Computer Club for more than a decade, Peter Daley has answered more computing questions than he would care to remember. He also helps run a technology help line service called www.technologypals.com.au giving people help over the phone. .

Just how safe is internet banking?

March 20 | Peter Daley

I have written this series of blogs on internet security because I believe the situation is at a crisis point, and the general community should be made aware that their financial wellbeing could be at risk.

In the last few weeks I have been asked this question a number of times: Is internet banking safe?

Some people have made inquiries with their bank on this subject, to get reassurance. They have been told by their bank info-line that they are safe, as long as they can see the small locked symbol in the bottom right corner of their internet browser window when they log on to their account at the bank’s website.

However, all this indicates is that you have a secure encrypted connection to your bank account. This by no way means you're safe.

If your computer has been hacked, by viruses or spyware, the secure encrypted connection to your online bank means absolutely nothing. Squat!

These malicious programs simply record your keystrokes. It is like having a highly secure encrypted telephone call but someone has placed a voice tape recorder in the room, recording your conversation.

As I've said in previous blogs, it's very rare these days for me to find a Windows-based computer which uses the internet that is virus or spyware-free. The average computer user is now also faced with another, more sophisticated threat – Rootkits. (For more info on Rootkits, read my previous blog.)

Rootkits are not generally detected by your anti-virus or spyware programs; they are super-stealth and you need special tools to detect them.

I realise many of you out there using the internet do not have a lot of technical skill, so I do my best to pick programs which are easy for you to install and use.
Here is a selection of Rootkit detectors which are easy to use, showing which operating system they will work with. You should install two Rootkit checkers, plus update and run them once a week through your computer.

Why two? Because just as I have pointed out in previous blogs, no single tool – anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-rootkit – is sufficient to find all the malicious content infecting the Windows operating system any more.

Pandar Antirootkit – XP only, at present

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Panda-Anti-Rootkit.shtml

AVG antirootkit – XP and Vista

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/us/frt/0/

(Note: In Vista, right click the unpacked AVG antirookit and select “Run as Administrator”.)

Rootkitrevealer – XP and Vista

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897445.aspx

(Note: The Rootkitrevealer file download is right at the bottom of this page. Rootkitrevealer is harder to run in Vista. Right click the unpacked RootKitRevealer.exe and select “Run as Administrator”.)

If you thought Rootkits were a bad enough threat to be faced with, you're now faced with an even greater threat – Bootkits!

At present, Bootkits are undetectable by many of your security tools, anti-virus, anti-spyware or anti-rootkit. The security experts don't know how many infestations there are, or how widespread they are!

Bootkits also have the potential to infect your flash drives and jump from one computer to another.

Bootkits have infected a lot of British and Italian computers. Hackers are breaking into Windows computers through malicious Javascripts embedded in web pages and installing Bootkits. They then collect credit card info, plus banking user name and password login information.

The best thing to do to prevent this is to turn off Java Scripts in your Windows web browser, plus make sure your Windows operating system is up to date by installing the latest updates.

To turn off Javascript in Mozilla FireFox browser, go to: Tools / Options / Content and un-tick “Enable JavaScript”.

To turn off Javascript in Internet Explorer browser, go to: Tools / Internet Options / Security / Custom Level / scroll down to, Scripting / Active Scripting and click disable.

Also got to: Tools / Internet Options / Security / Custom Level / scroll down to Scripting / Scripting of Java Applets and click disable.

(NOTE: Turning off Javascript will stop a lot of web page functions.)

So what are your chances of keeping your Windows OS safe. Well, read all my recent blogs and download and install the recommended software, that's a start.

Consider joining the Sunshine Coast Computer Club Inc: www.sccc.org.au.

Recent Comments

Add a comment

Posted by Jason from Pomona

on 21 March, 2008 at 7:49 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Disabling javascript is a bit extreme, and recalls the paranoia surrounding cookies in the late nineties. Javascript in the browser runs in a sandbox (has no access to your computer outside of the browser), however no program is perfect and holes will appear, so keeping the browser up to date is important. Better advice would be to avoid dodgy sites, this where the majority of computers are infected via browser exploits. The majority of the computers I've seen that have been compromised have a history of browsing porn or pirate software sites. The only people who should disable javascript are those surfing the porn and warez sites. Keep it in your pants, don't be greedy and you'll have nothing to fear.

Posted by atapro from Noosaville

on 22 March, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Jason, speaking of the naughty bits on the Internet, I'd value your thoughts on those Root Kits which Technophile keeps rabbiting on about.

Posted by Jason from Pomona

on 22 March, 2008 at 1:36 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Hehe, you should hear Americans pronounce router, they say "rooter", which might be correct as they are quick to point out but none the less it's sounds amusing.

I can only give an opinion not definitive advice. Most of Technophile's advice is good, I only question the reasons behind disabling Javascript and his advice not to use Internet Banking.

Regarding root kits and other malware this is what I do. If it's free but not Open Source, GPL'ed or some other form of copy-left or if closed source not from a well known software vendor (e.g Microsoft, Apple, Mozilla, Adobe, Sun Microsystems etc...), don't install it unless 100% confident that you know what you are doing, do a backup just in case. Copy-left software allows anyone to see the source code so it gets peer reviewed. Peer review is awesome.

Internet banking is a great service and I don't understand Technophile's advice not to use it, but I guess he sees more compromised systems. You can never discount stupidity such as giving your bank account details in response to an email. As they say in IT, for some users, user is spelt with a silent L. Like all things, do some homework, question people's motivations (why are these people giving away software for free that they claim will speed up my PC/connection?), read the reviews and don't be greedy. There are a lot of good people in the world so just because it's free doesn't mean it's bad.

For a great read on computer security Kevin Mitnick's The Art of Deception is a great read, as the cover blurb says "...the gravest security risk of all [is] human nature."

Posted by Jason from Pomona

on 22 March, 2008 at 3:22 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

I guess my post doesn't really answer your question which was bugging me hence another post.

Rootkits are just another IT tool that can be used in a malicious manner. I've used a rootkit to reset administrative passwords on systems where the password was unknown and we had legitimate reasons for gaining access. Though the meaning of the word seems to be changing.

Basically it's just another piece of malware as far as most users are concerned, like viruses they can enter actively via the action of a user (downloading and installing infected software), passively on a computer that is not adequately protected by a firewall and anti-virus software or intentionally. Zonealarm does a good job as a personal firewall and is free. Firefox has a better track record as a browser than IE. It's important for the operating system (windows, linux, Mac OS) to be update as this reduces the number of known bugs which can be exploited to get a computer to do something that is not intended. All software should be kept up to date.

As example, a Windows 95/98 clean install unprotected and placed on the internet has a life expectancy of approximately 16 minutes. You shouldn't use windows 95, 98 or windows ME, if using a old computer have a look at Linux if unable to purchase a new computer. Once a computer is infected by a rootkit it is very hard to detect let alone remove, that's why prevention is the best cure.

For some good info on rootkits,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit

Wikipedia is usually very good with technical questions in a summarized fashion, once again peer review in action. Hope that helps and happy internet using.

Posted by vital1 from Caloundra

on 23 March, 2008 at 11:14 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

I agree with Jason, that if people avoid porn sites, and don't use cracks to use software illegally, they will be a lot safer.

At present the hacker black market is paying $100 per thousand hacked Australian computers. That's correct, there is a black market for hacked computers, and Australian computers are fetching top dollar compared to other countries.

The reason for this is that Australians are slack when it comes to computer security. Now any web site owner can place a hacker script on their web pages and make a very good income if they have good page views. With this sort of financial incentive, porno or crack sites no longer have this market cornered!

I also agree disabling Java script is drastic, and will stop a lot of web page functions. In the Firefox web browser you can install an Add On component call "Noscript". This allows the user to only turn on the scripts they feel are safe.

Still, this can be tedious.

If you want good security with decent web functionality, you can use a Live Linux CD or install a Linux dual boot system. This then avoids having to spend your Sundays updating and scanning your Windows computer with multiple security tools!

In a future blog I will detail how to go about doing this. I have demonstrated these techniques to Sunshine Coast Computer Inc., members using Windows on a number of occasions over the last year.