oh no, there goes Drexx again!

he’s a nice, highly knowledgeable guy but always having trouble getting out of “geek speak”

that flaw recently released by CERT is really serious. It’s part of my job to stay awake, know the latest threats and make corrections to security posture to thwart any possible problem. My company’s already immune from that vulnerability, btw.

companies “sleeping” may find themselves “0wn3d” later

I’m not a security analyst nor a specialist , but like what Drexx said, its not 100% safe doing financial transactions online. That’s why I’m still a little bit scared yet to “transfer” all my transactions online. To a determined “hacker” none in the net is safe as the cliche goes. Its a combination of trust and secure policies of transacting online that decrease one’s vulnerability in the net.

In the philippines, the security afterthought is a glaring misjudgment that will probably cost us financial havoc in the future, when our technology is almost at par with the west. Beware also of using bootlegged and pirated copies of financial softwares and PIMs, they are goldmines of info for hackers.

@paetechie, I have interviewed technology geeks that I really couldn’t understand! Some of them from banks, hehe. Drexx was not bad. He actually took the time to explain things very clearly

Share more tips on how to stay secure online?

@Bone MD, what are PIMs?

Doing transactions in the web is just like doing transactions in real life - always be careful! Hackers lurking in the web are just similar to robbers prowling the dark corners near the ATM… there is always a price for convenience…

Personal Information Manager or PIM softwares keep and organizes personal information. There are a wide ranged of these software in the market and online, some embedded in some other softwares others stand alone. Even our email softwares have one. So if a hacker can grab your email, its not far he can get hold of any other info (including credit card and bank accounts if listed) in those PIMS!

I’ve seen a copy of microsoft money, with dummy bank accounts and credit infos, sent to an unknown email add. On deep prodding the guy revealed he used a bootlegged copy of MM. Its pretty obvious why hackers would want to gain access to these types of accounts. There’s money in it. So beware.

lame article. doesnt really answer what u were craving for. jrnlsm 101

Yeah, its so true. Its still not safe to do financial transactions online. And what’s even more depressing - security sites are flagging the Philippines as one of the countries to watch for online security threats, fraud and spamming. I don’t agree with them though.

There’s even an affiliate site Clickbank that denies affiliates from the Philippines bec of the high incidence of these frauds - something I furiously opposed - even wrote a blog denouncing Clickbank. Well, it didnt probably even bother them to reconsider though I did earned 100USD from it when it won the most popular post for May on one of the startup blog award site. Grrr..

that sweeping claim it’s not safe to do financial transactions online is not true. lots of safe sites out there. if you don’t trust online banking sites, don’t also do ATM banking for they’re tied to the same system.

the usual problem is lack of awareness of users…phishing targets users and not the system…loss of information and PIN/password theft are always due to user negligence/ignorance

tighten security and people will complain, particularly marketing guys

security is really inversely proportional to convenience

this comes from a guy who eats and drink security stuff everyday

Ahh.. the game of fear. If we consider all possible threats in life, we might as well stay in bed for the rest of our lives.

The key is to keep ourselves educated. All these technology innovations are suppose to make things easier for us. They are also bound to failure/s and malfunction.

It would be a never ending battle with the white-hat hackers (those employed by companies to protect them and their customers online and the black-hat hackers (those who wreak havoc in the internet) …it how nature works…the hunter find new ways to hunt the prey , while the prey evolves into something to protect itself from the hunter…learning and following the security measures suggested by our banks and online suppliers will help , but nobody can claim it would be 100% secured…true , it is the price we pay for convenience!

vladimir larionov, just to answer the question and also the title of this post. The DNS flaw will allow attackers to spoof banking websites and steal usernames/passwords of unassuming people and thus be able to peek at the accounts of their victims. That’s if the online banking system doesn’t have additional authentication required to access the account online.

to ria, sometimes, your bedroom is not safe too. C’est la vie!

Exactly paetechie! We could still expire while snoozing.

one key is to be proactive. some tips when doing online transactions :

1. invest on a good anti-virus/spyware programs to minimize your system from being infected with trojan/keyloggers

2. be aware of the sites your are visiting especially if it involves online transactions. memorize your bank’s URL (type it in the address box instead of clicking links from other site or e-mails).

3. regularly change your password and use strong passwords (combination of alphanumeric, special characters). do
check your online account regularly so you can monitor if there are transactions or changes in your balance that you are not aware of.

hope this help