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Internet Transaction Protection
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| | Internet fraud is on the rise. Not only your home computer but any computer can become infected with "spyware" or viruses that attempt to collect your Internet transactions location and login information prior to entering the secure environment that OMISTA Credit Union provides. And with today's powerful online transaction systems, someone pretending to be you may be able to:
- Transfer funds to another location
- Apply for loans that you are not aware of
- Set up automatic credit card payments for cards that are not yours
Whether you use WINDOWS®, LINUX™ or MACINTOSH® operating platforms, you need to be concerned about computer security.
Invest in Peace of Mind.
Reputable retailers sell a variety of software and hardware solutions to make your computer more secure. Here are a few recommendations to enhance the security of any computer that is attached to the Internet:
Firewall
Considered the first line of defense for protecting private information, a firewall helps prevent unauthorized access to or from your home or office network. Although some computers come with a standard operating system firewall, it should not be considered sufficient to keep out intruders. An additional firewall, that will detect new forms of attacks or attempted intrusions, should be installed and upgraded regularly. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both.
Anti-Virus Program
Computer viruses are pieces of destructive computer codes that are easily spread from computer to computer without the users' knowledge. In some cases they are used to collect and transmit personal information to a third party such as passwords and online transaction location information. In others, they are intended to harm the computer they infect and make it unusable. Virus protection programs or anti-virus software is now a must for computer users, because the number and destructiveness of new computer viruses is increasing exponentially. To ensure you are protected from new viruses, update your anti-virus software at least once a week and run it to detect if your computer has become infected with a virus. With a good quality program, updates are available online through the software provider's website and in many cases can be set to automatically update as new releases become available.
Anti-Spyware Program
Spyware will not harm your computer as a virus might. It is programming that is picked up through accessing Internet sites and downloaded on to your computer without your knowledge or consent. Spyware secretly gathers information about you and relays it to advertisers or others who want to know more about you and your online habits. Criminals are now using this technology to install keyloggers or screen capture programs that allow them to collect your personal information and passwords to secure sites and the sites' RUL locations which is a breach of your personal privacy. Because spyware is becoming increasingly powerful and difficult to remove, specialized anti-spyware programs should now be considered as important as anti-virus technology. To ensure that you are protected from new spyware programs, update your spyware detection software at least once a week and run it against your computer at the end of each online session to detect new attachments. Good quality products have an automatic or requested update feature where updates are available online through the software provider's website. It is preferable to have more than one version of spyware detection available to run on a computer as no one version can detect all attachments.
Other Security Suggestions
Here are some additional things you can do to enhance the security of your Internet financial transactions.
- Use a multi-digit password - one that is difficult to guess.
- Change your password regularly.
- Do not use software that 'memorizes' passwords unless the product keeps them in an encrypted form that displays them only in a masked form on screen.
- Keep your passwords and Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) safe and never share them.
- Do not use the same password for different secure sites.
- Observe the look of your online transaction site. If it changes check the URL carefully to ensure that you have not been hijaked to a bogus site.
- Never leave your computer while it is logged on to a password protected site that can perform online transactions.
- Follow the instructions provided to properly exit online secure sites then clear your cache.
- Never send confidential or personal information through an email, even if you think the email is going to an organization or person you trust.
- Do not conduct online financial transactions where you can be observed or at Internet cafes or libraries where a previous user may have accessed a site that downloaded a keylogger.
- Always confirm that you are accessing online transactions through the correct OMISTA Credit Union website address. www.omista.com
- Disable file sharing in WINDOWS® products.
- Do not follow links provided in an email form, that appears to be from OMISTA Credit Union or any other financial institution, that request you to provide personal information. If you are unsure, call your financial institution through a known number, other than one that may appear in the content of the email, to verify if the message was sent from them.
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