With the technological advances around the world, the financial sector has not been left. Millions of people have embraced the fundamental change that is mobile banking. People are using a wide range of mobile devices to do their banking, and millions more are expected to trend into the coming years and months. Security is critical in almost every app, but with bank-related apps, the need for security is even more pressing. This is and should remain the top priority when building an app, but the recent revelations by security researchers have shown shocking results from security surveys. Our company has decided to investigate this problem in detail.
Strategy and research company Speer showed that the use of mobile banking grew by up to 63 percent in 2011 and that the adoption rate was just as high or even higher in the following months. With the evolution of technology comes the evolution of security concerns. Increasing concerns include the risk of mobile malware compromise. This includes Trojans, rootkits and viruses. This type of risk is unique to take advantage of the transition from traditional online banking to mobile banking. Other threats include third-party applications that have access to user information about the more trusted mobile banking applications.
The use of insecure wifi jammer networks can also be another source of security for sensitive information. The most important vulnerability, and perhaps the most difficult to anticipate or control, is user behavior. People often think that apps have built-in security mechanisms, and they forget their own responsibility to keep their devices safe. Downloading apps from unsafe locations, using insecure networks, opening text, and clicking links in emails is one of the ways that users can compromise their own security.
Researcher Ariel Sanchez revealed shocking results from a survey. He released his results after reviewing mobile banking apps on iPhones and iPads from the top 60 banks in the world. He found that up to 90 percent of the apps that deal with mobile banking from the top banks have serious security gaps that could lead to the loss of sensitive bank data. Here are some highlights from the survey. Some of the terminology is somewhat complex for the average person. He found that up to 20 percent of the apps had no technology to protect them from attacks that damage memory. Up to 40 percent of the apps tested did not validate SSL certificates.
Others were vulnerable to JavaScript injections through the UIWebview implementations. This allowed the scammers to edit the source code and manipulate it to perform tasks on behalf of the owner of the mobile device. You could manipulate the devices to perform actions such as sending an SMS from the victim’s device. Up to 90 percent of mobile apps contain links that give fraudsters access to information. In such cases, you should contact your bank to lock an account, turn off your phone, or use cell phone jammers. This is a worrying trend and serious steps need to be taken to reduce these potential losses.