Computer Fraud Protection - Rapport - comments?

[dex]

I came across this add on - it looks good. Anyone with more computer knowledge have any comments?

Home | Trusteer

https://www.nsbank.com/privacy_and_s...n_software.jsp

[harley]

Not necessary, IMO. Nobody has their information stolen across a secure link, which is what you have with financial transactions. Most of it gets stolen from the company's servers not being locked down properly, or a laptop gets stolen that contains a lot of info, or something like that. Human error, in other words. Simple precautions like not keeping personal information on your hard drive (use encryption, flash drives, external HDDs, things like that), making sure you have an https connection before transmitting sensitive information (look for the lock symbol or whatever your browser uses), and the standard antivirus/spyware/firewall systems and you've done all you can. There's no protection you can add that protects your data on corprate or gov't servers. It can get compromised even if you didn't do anything over the internet. They store the online and brick and mortar info on the same servers.

That said, this can't hurt, I guess. If it can really protect against phishing sites, that would be an improvement. But it has to be used by the bank you are dealing with. As far as locking down a tunnel between your computer and the bank, I don't see any improvement over an https session. Three way authentication should resolve the phishing issues, and most banks use that now.

Edit: I was reading the product in more detail. I am not that impressed. They're using FUD advertising. So what if 90% of attacks are aimed at the browser. I doubt if even 10% of identity theft is accomplished via the browser. It's not about quantity, it's about quality. One good server hack or stolen laptop will accomplish more that 100K browser attacks.

[harley]

Also there are a lot of complaints about it being a resource hog. And it's an Israeli based company, so I doubt it will be getting installed on many gov't systems. We had the same problem back in the day with Checkpoint firewalls. Allies, yes. But trusted allies? No way!

[dex]

Thanks. I am interested because a bank I use recommended it. And I see a lot of others do the same. I downloaded it and will use it for cc and banks.

[harley]

I would probably use it if my bank did. Keep an eye on your resource usage and let us know how it works.I also read some horror stories about trying to uninstall it, but those were from last year. Maybe the newer version took care of that.

[Walt34]

I wouldn't bother with it. A couple of years ago as an experiment one of the guys I worked with in computer forensics/computer crime ran a stand-alone entirely unprotected bone-stock PC with an Internet connection for two years and it remained uninfected or hacked.

What he did not do was go to known malicious web sites, download programs/files from unknown sources, click on spam file attachments or web links, or do any of the high-risk activities known to anyone halfway paying attention.

That said, I still run a hardware and software firewall and keep the AV software current. But just because one bank wants me to run it? Nah.

[dex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 I wouldn't bother with it. A couple of years ago as an experiment one of the guys I worked with in computer forensics/computer crime ran a stand-alone entirely unprotected bone-stock PC with an Internet connection for two years and it remained uninfected or hacked. What he did not do was go to known malicious web sites, download programs/files from unknown sources, click on spam file attachments or web links, or do any of the high-risk activities known to anyone halfway paying attention. That said, I still run a hardware and software firewall and keep the AV software current. But just because one bank wants me to run it? Nah.

I do the same.
What about while traveling and using unsecured wifi?
It would be nice to be able to access financial accounts.