[ad_1]
Third-party financial services applications not only provide users with the convenience of performing cashless transactions and paying bills online, but also serve as a guide for managing and planning personal finances. Mobile applications such as Cred, Groww, Amazon Pay, Google Pay and Paytm offer a wide range of financial services and have large user bases. Most of the third party applications offer users easy online payments. This can be demonstrated by the fact that last December alone he made his 782 million UPI transactions worth Rs 1.28 billion. While these apps claim to offer the highest degree of security, several recent incidents have revealed just how sophisticated hackers are.
How apps pose security risks
There are many financial apps that may rely on other third parties to obtain user account information. In such cases, users will unknowingly share their personal information more broadly. For example, a third party may store her online user ID and password indefinitely to verify a bank account, even for one-time transactions. According to US-based Citizens Bank, such apps may collect information unrelated to transactions made by users. “If this information is compromised, it may increase the risk of fraud,” it said.
Additionally, after saving your login information, some financial apps allow you to access your account at any time, with your consent (if you agree to the “Terms of Use”). Once these third parties have access to his apps, users are subject to different terms, conditions, and privacy practices for each app.
Here’s how to protect your information
Read “Terms of Use”
When reading the “terms of use” associated with a product or service, most people casually scroll and click “accept”. Reading through long documents can seem like a daunting task, but being diligent here is key to keeping your personal and financial information safe. You should properly review the terms of use and privacy agreements of each third-party financial app. These policies help us understand what our users are signing up for in terms of information/data sharing through those apps.
Use public Wi-Fi sparingly
If you’re on the go and want to stay connected to the internet, public Wi-Fi networks are great. But don’t fall for it completely as it may not be as secure as you think. According to Forbes, there is a cyberattack known as a “man-in-the-middle attack.” Such attacks allow hackers to electronically intercept a user’s banking and other online activities. We recommend that you do not use online banking or mobile banking when using public Wi-Fi networks.
Do not evade bank alerts
The bank provides users with a basic service of sending alerts whenever there is activity related to the account. You should always pay attention to these alerts to see if anything suspicious is happening to your account, especially “Failed Login” alerts. A good lookout can save the user from many troubles.
Use unique and strong passwords
This is the most common and effective way to avoid trouble. A strong password combination makes it difficult for hackers to find a gateway to access your private information. Many applications already suggest this when users set up their accounts, and even if they don’t, they should create unique passwords.
Enable multi-factor authentication
Users should ensure that there are multiple barriers to personal information. Multi-factor authentication ensures more factors of verification that lower the likelihood of cyberattacks. Such authentication creates a defense in depth that makes it very difficult for unauthorized persons to break in.
Choose trusted applications
Finally, users should choose the most trusted application. Almost all third-party financial apps make all things financial easier, but not all are equally secure. Before downloading any financial app, you should check developer details, ratings, and reviews on the App Store or Play Store.
[ad_2]
Source link
