Paying home loan has beome easier! See how?

Buying a home is not merely a financial decision. It is an emotional decision too. Are you planning to shed the weight sooner rather than later of home loan? It may be prudent to do so as you become free of EMIs most important benefit of closing your home loan early is obvious – you become free of EMIs and heavy loan debt. It requires discipline and planning, but it brings you much closer to the proud day on which your bank hands you the ownership papers of your fully paid-up house. Have a look on the simple steps to prepay your loan easily and save money for the future ahead.

Just pay more

Start playing with mortgage calculators and see how adding a little payment to your principal here and there can shorten the length of your loan. If you pay a little more principal, you get a bonus. The lower your principal gets, the more every payment from then on is applied to principal, as less goes to cover interest expense. When you pay extra, make sure the extra is applied to the principal balance, not just set aside for the next payment. And before you make extra payments, read your contract and make sure you won’t have to pay prepayment penalties.

Consider your financial plan

With the financial safety net in place, it is time to build the corpus that you will need to close your home loan early. You should begin by taking a close look at all the ways in which you lose money each month. Evaluate the investments and the returns produce on them. Once you are assure that your investments are sufficient to take of financial security ahead. So, you can transfer the surplus to pay off your home loan debt.

Switch to partial payments

Many banks permit their customers to make partial payments of home loan in a year. If you are salaried, you can divert your salary hikes, yearly bonuses or incentives towards your repayments. Businessmen can similarly use any extra profits towards paying off the loan. Check if your bank will set up a biweekly payment plan. Some banks do it free; others charge. Ask the bank to credit extra payments toward principal so you save more on interest expense. Some banks set aside extra payments until the end of the year.

Cut down on unnecessary expenses

Want to pay off your home loan financial debt earlier as to lessen the financial burden every month. Try to cut your extra expenditures wherever possible and use that money to prepay your home loan, You may have to let go holidaying or some unnecessary purchases as they can backfire hugely. However, make sure that the cost attached to prepayment of home loan, if any, in the form of a penalty does not nullify the benefits.
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Source Secondary

Danger: Credit card fraud! Protect yourself.

Credit Card Fraud is a harsh reality of digital age. Though in India, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has done a commendable job to avoid credit card fraud. Some of the path breaking steps taken by RBI are:

1. Two level authentication for online transactions. 1st level when you enter Credit Card details & CVV. 2nd level authentication is implementation of 3D Secure Code (Verified by VISA and Mastercard SecureCode)

2. Issuance of EMV Chip & PIN enabled Credit Cards

3. Option to select / set limit for International usage

4. Data Security standards for POS Terminals

5. SMS Alert to customer’s registered mobile no for every Credit Card transaction

6. OTP for IVR based transactions

Awesome, Isn’t it. In India, the probability of Credit Card fraud is negligible except due to negligence of user. An example of negligence is that user lost the wallet with Credit Card and in the wallet PIN of Credit Card was written on piece of paper.

Unfortunately, International scenario is not as secured as in India. Most of the credit card frauds are executed offshore i.e. Credit Card information is stolen in India and then the Credit Card is used outside India. Best part is for international transactions, you only need Credit Card No. and 3 digit CVV No. Unlike India, there is no multi layer security authentication/verification. Its quite easy to carry out credit card fraud outside India. RBI or any law enforcement agency does not have any jurisdiction outside India. Last year, person's credit card was used to make international transactions on dubious e-commerce website of African country. Now he has lost all the hopes to recover the amount. The double whammy for him was that he had to pay the amount else his CIBIL Score would have been impacted adversely. Moreover with stricter norms in India, no one can escape under the shield of Credit Card Fraud. The only point of consolation is that if the user prove his innocence by proving that credit card fraud happened due to bank or its employees ignorance/fault/collusion. In this case, Bank will compensate for the loss due to credit card fraud.

 11 most important tips which can help you to avoid Credit Card fraud

Mask CVV No

Immediately after receiving the Credit Card, Remember CVV No and Mask/Scratch the same. You can mask with Permanent marker and than apply whitener coating over it.

Never Store Credit Card information online

Storing Credit Card Information online is most dangerous practice. Its an open invitation to credit card fraud. Recently while booking movie ticket on BookMyShow, the merchant offered me to save the Credit Card Details for next transaction. These e-commerce sites claim highest data security standards but recently Ebay’s 145 mn accounts were compromised so its safe to conclude that “WEB is not a safe place”.

A word of caution: On some e-commerce sites, the option to save Credit Card information for future transactions is by default selected. If you overlooked than without your knowledge, the information will be captured by merchant. The user has to very careful while making online transactions.

Avoid International Transactions, Avoid Credit Card Fraud

It is advisable not to use your Credit Card abroad and even avoid using Credit Card on International E-Commerce websites. If you are 100% sure about the merchant’s credibility & reputation than you may consider. Offline transactions are also risky as Credit Card Skimming is very common at POS terminals in countries like Thailand, Indonesia, African Countries etc

Credit Card Transactions at Petrol Pump

According to recent study, Credit Card Transaction at Petrol Pump is most unsafe. It is one of the favorite location for credit card skimming thus credit card fraud. We tend to handover Credit Card to pump attendant and Credit Card is unattended for 10-15 mins. The probability of Credit Card Skimming is high at Petrol Pumps specially the petrol pumps on highways & remote locations. Crux is that Credit Card should not be unattended and all Credit Card transactions should be in front of you. Secondly, don’t use Credit Card at Petrol Pumps on Highways and Remote locations to avoid credit card fraud.

URL in Browser

Before making any online payment, Please check the URL in Web Browser. Normally the URL starts with “http” whereas secured URL’s  have extra “s” i.e. secured URL will start with “https”. In-fact Google Chrome will show “https” in Green color if the URL is secured and site name will also appear in green.

Reputed SSL Seals & Trust Seals

As a thumb rule, you should make all online transactions only on websites with reputed SSL/Trust seals

SSL Seals: Norton Security Seal, Thawte, Trustwave, COMODO & GeoTrust

Trust Seals:  McAfee Secure, TRUSTe & BBB Accredited.

SSL Seals are more reliable & secure as they suggest Technical Security of Payment whereas Trust Seals are only reputation certification. To avoid credit card fraud rely on SSL Seals.

Use of Credit Card on Public Computer

 Public computers are most vulnerable for Credit Card Fraud. Never ever use Credit Card in cyber cafe, friends place or even in office. Always trust your own Desktop / Laptop for online transactions. Use reputed Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware & Firewall to avoid any data theft.

Credit Card Photocopy as Id Proof / Authorization letter

A Credit Card with Photograph is also accepted as valid Id proof e.g. for bank account opening etc. In case, you booked air ticket for your friend or family member, an authorization letter with xerox of credit card is required. We tend to give xerox of both front and back side of credit card. Some unaware users don’t even hide CVV on back side thus vulnerable to credit card fraud.  Please note that it is not necessary to give xerox of back side of credit card. Only front side is sufficient.

Fraudulent Calls

To avoid credit card fraud never ever trust incoming calls. If you receive any such call than call back bank’s helpline to check the truth.

Credit Card payment through Mobile / Mobile Apps

These days you might have observed that lot many merchants are promoting online mobile apps like RedBus, Flipkart, BookMyShow etc. These apps allow you to make payment over mobile app through Credit Card. Personally, it is not suggested to make any credit card payment through Mobile applications to avoid credit card fraud. In a recent article published in Business Standard, a survey done by Japanese security firm Trend Micro revealed that  39 Payment Gateways, 15 Bank related mobile Apps and other Mobile apps, Shopping apps, Social Networking Apps and Health Care apps used by Indian users are vulnerable to credit card fraud.

Prevention is better than Cure

If the situation demands and you carried out any risky/vulnerable transaction than immediately cancel your Credit Card and apply for replacement of credit card. In short, if you foresee or anticipate any Credit Card fraud than apply for replacement of credit card.
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Source: Secondary

Phishing Attacks!

What could set the alarm bells ringing for the Indian banking system is the revelation that there has been a six-fold rise in phishing attacks on the country's lenders during the last four months alone.

Phishing is a form of internet fraud that aims to steal valuable information such as credit card details, social security numbers, user IDs and passwords for financial gains.

The fraud is executed through spoof emails and fake websites that prompt users to disclose their personal details.

The 24X7 Security Response Lab of Pune-based internet security firm Symantec found that in October last year, there were 20 unique attacks on Indian banks while the figure has grown to 120 attacks as of January, 2008.

"The attacks are now becoming more localised, subtle and target-specific... The increase in the number of attacks reflects that they are getting successful," said Prabhat Kumar, director, Security Response, Symantec.

From fame, the phishers are now turning towards making a fortune, he added.
             

The Symantec lab monitors the complete threat spectrum and malware activity all across the world. It provides support in 14 languages against phishers who are extensively using sophisticated methods to install spyware, Trojans, worms and viruses.

But, it is not actually a security breach for the bank.

"The banks have put in the best possible security but it is the unsuspecting user on whose back the phishers enter the system," Singh said.

The latest Internet Security Threat Report by Symantec had ranked Mumbai as the most notorious in India in terms of phishing sites with 38 per cent, followed by New Delhi with 29 per cent.

Even Tier-II cities like Bhopal, Surat, Pune and Noida too had reports about phishing site activity.

"Surprisingly, a large number of home PC users do not even have a basic security feature," Singh said.

The report highlighted that the malicious code in India included 57 per cent worms and 21 per cent virus attacks but even complex threads like Trojan made for about 20 per cent of the attacks.

Recently, leading private sector lender HDFC Bank had filed a police complaint against a "money mule" scammer. The accused had used a bank customer as a mule to transfer money, acquired through phishing attacks, to different accounts.

Even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had advised the public not to succumb to the temptation of fictitious offers of large funds through e-mails from unknown entities.

"Members of public should also not make any remittance towards participation in such schemes/offers from unknown entities," it had said in a recent notification.

The RBI has issued the warning to caution individuals who initially receive tempting offers of large funds on various pretexts from unknown overseas entities through e-mails and letters and are later requested to remit a small amount as commission for transfer of the money.

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Source: Secondary

Internet Leading To Increase In Cyber Crime,says Parliament Study

New Delhi: The hacking and defacing of websites in India has “highly perturbed” a Parliamentary Committee which examined the issue of cyber crimes and cyber security and found that 3,911 India’s websites were defaced or hacked upto June 2013 and majority of these which was around 2667 out of 3911 attacks were the ‘.in’ domain whose servers were in India.

In its 52nd Report, the Standing Committee on Information Technology tabled in Parliament on Wednesday found that while the usage of internet has facilitated transparency and greater accountability, it has at the same time led to increasing forms of cyber crime and cyber threat each day with newer challenges for data protection and security.

This assumes significance since the internet user base has increased to 100 million and total broadband subscriber base has increased to 12.69 million. The target for broadband connections in the current year is 22 million.

Today the country has 134 major ISPs, 10 million registered domain names of one million are  ‘.in’  domains and over 260 data centers all over the country.

In its 83-page report, the Committee chaired by Rao Inderjit Singh expressed concern over the consistent increase in cyber crime cases in the country during the last five years.
           

It said according to the record of  cyber-crime data maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 420, 966, 1791 and 2876 Cyber Crime cases were registered under the Information Technology Act during the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.

The report said that a total of 276, 356, 422 and 601 cases were registered under Cyber Crime related sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC)  during  2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. respectively.

The Committee found it disquieting that the quantum of financial loss and privacy related cases in the country due to cyber attack and fraud in the last few years have increased.

The Report said that according to the Reserve Bank of India in the last five years though the number of fraud cases reported by Banks on account of ATM Debit Cards/Credit Cards and Internet have decreased from 15018 in 2010 to 8322 in 2012, yet the amount involved had increased from Rs 40.48 crore to /Rs 52.67 crore in 2012.

However, the Committee was of the view that the reported number of cases involving financial fraud due to cyber related cases is just the tip of the iceberg as a number of cases go unnoticed and unreported.

The Committee expressed unhappiness over the involvement of too many agencies maintaining separate data on cyber crime cases and felt that there should be one single, centralized cell or agency to deal with all cases of cyber crime or threat in the country.

Having one agency to look after cyber crimes and cyber threats, the Committee said would not only help the Department in knowing the pattern of the crime but also prevent recurrence of same kind of crimes with newer strategies.

It felt that the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DIETY) should work in this direction and apprise the Committee of the action taken in this regard.
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Source: Secondary

Financial services in danger because of cyber crime

Cyber crime is a “growing threat” globally and the second most commonly reported economic crime affecting financial-services firms, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

It accounted for 38% of criminal incidents for financial companies compared with 16% in other business sectors, the accounting firm said in a report.

About half of the financial-services respondents said the potential risk of cyber attacks has risen over the past 12 months compared with 36% in other sectors. “Cyber crime puts the financial sector’s customers, brand and reputation at significant risk,” Andrew Clark, forensic services partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers said in the statement. “Regulators are increasingly viewing cyber crime as a key area of focus and financial institutions are expected to have appropriate systems and controls in place.”
                  

Cyber crime involves the use of computers or the internet and includes the theft of personal information, industrial espionage, reputational damage, financial theft and the disruption of services. About 29% of financial-firm respondents didn’t receive cyber security training, PricewaterhouseCoopers said.

Asset misappropriation such as embezzlement and deception by employees remains the most popular way of committing fraud in an organisation, the survey found.
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Source: Secondary

Are you Safe On The Internet?

Gone are the days when you had to stand in long queues to pay your electricity bills, phone bills, income tax returns and almost everything. But easy access to the internet and availability of these services online not just provide relief but of course helps in saving time. At the same time users are also exposed to the threats of identity theft, loss of personal information and spams.

           

If we follow a few golden rules we can easily protect our personal information and greatly reduce the possibility of fraud. Here are some of them:

Security suites

Outpost Security Suite: This is the only free security suite that offers antivirus, firewall and anti malware in a single package. It even offers email and web surfing security for online protection and monitors application behavior to keep a check on malicious infections. Being free, it does have some limitations — only one auto update is allowed in a day. Others need to be manually done. Also, it does not include identity theft protection or technical support.

Norton 360 (v 6.0): As an all-in-one suite, Norton 360 (Rs 1,649) is pretty complete. Apart from protecting against local threats, it has a set of tools for online identity theft protection, to tune up your PC, Email and instant message monitoring as well as browser plugins to warn you of harmful websites & downloads. It even has parental controls to track Internet usage and keep kids safe from online threats. Finally, the price includes 2GB cloud storage. Norton 360 can automatically take a regular backup of important files to the cloud.

Firewalls

Comodo: The free Comodo firewall uses cloud-based data to to protect your computer against online threats and programs. It is capable of detecting most trojans, worms, hacker attacks and even has a sandbox mode where new programs can be run in a protected, virtual environment to make sure that they are not harmful. In 'game mode', Comodo works silently in the background — useful if you don't want to be disturbed while playing a game or watching a movie. Finally, a built in 'TrustConnect' Wi-Fi feature encrypts and safeguards data transfers when connected to a public network.

ZoneAlarm Pro: The Pro version of ZoneAlarm's Firewall (US$ 30/year) protects your computer against hackers and makes it invisible online by hiding your information. It has a built-in anti-phishing tool that stops fake/infected websites from opening on your system and it even authenticates websites to show you which ones are secure and which are not. If an active download is infected, the firewall automatically suspends the download for protection. It even gives you 2GB online storage where the program uploads and backs up important data that can be restored if required.

Mobile

Avast for Android: Avast's free app provides real time antivirus protection and even offers a firewall that can stop any app from accessing the Internet. It even offers SMS/call filtering, an app task manager and can show access rights of each app installed to detect any data stealing. The app has a strong set of anti-theft features that include lost notification on the phone, SIM lock, SIM change notifications, remote restart, remote wipe as well as the option to remotely locate your phone using GPS. The only thing that this free app skips out on is any sort of data backup service.

VirusBarrier for iOS: This $2.99 app can do on-demand scans of content downloaded on to your iOS device. The program scans for malware, adware and hacker tools on the iOS device which might get transferred and then infect the computer (Windows/MAC/Unix) when the device is connected to it. It can scan through zip files, email attachments, files stored online in Dropbox or on FTP severs and can also scan websites for phishing links or other online threats.

More options for advanced users:

Stay safe while downloading: Using Torrents is not illegal - sharing of copyrighted information is. Having said that, if you are a torrent user and are fed up of internet service providers clamping down on torrent speeds or are wary about your privacy being compromised (because of over-zealous media industry watchdogs), you should consider services like www.peerblock.com and www.btguard. com.

BTGuard's paid service completely hides your computer's IP address and provides a secure, encrypted route for your torrent data. PeerBlock is open source and works in conjunction with www.iblocklist.com. It essentially blocks your computer's communication with advertising or spyware oriented servers, computers monitoring torrents or computers which have been 'hacked' ( botnets).

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Source: Secondary

Study shows, Cybercrime is the Part of Sophisticated Online Economy

The dark world of cyber crime has evolved from one of rogue individuals to a functioning market-based economy with its ups and downs, code of conduct and "innovation."

A study by Rand Corp. and commissioned by the security firm Juniper Networks found a well-organised, multibillion-dollar underground economy that has become "a playground of financially driven, highly organized and sophisticated groups."

The evolution of cyber crime creates new challenges for security professionals trying to protect computer networks, says Nawaf Bitar, Juniper's general manager for security.

"We have long suspected that cyber criminals were sophisticated and that they had an organizational structure, but no one had studied this,"

"The success of this market is driven by accelerated economics, and the way to address this is through economics."

The report says the black markets "are growing in size and complexity" and that this activity "mirrors the normal evolution of a free market, with both innovation and growth."

Juniper's security vice president said this cyber underground has all the characteristics of an economy, including its own currencies -- chiefly cryptography payment forms such as Bitcoin.

She said the underground economy is characterized by specialization and "resilience," so that if one market participant leaves, another steps up.

"We saw this when (the black market bazaar) Silk Road went down, and within a day other participants started filling that gap," Callahan said.

"It's one of those signs this is a mature economy."
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Source: Secondary

Demand: Inclusion of cyber security in poll manifesto

NAGPUR: We are living as much in the physical world as in the virtual one today. So much so that social networking sites and digital advertisements are being used as means to campaign for elections. Against this backdrop, city-based NGO Cyber Awareness Organisation (CAO) has appealed to parties to include cyber security in their political mandate.

The organization points out that the world is migrating from physical to digital form and in this transition phase there are numerous threats, vulnerabilities that are compromising netizens' security. They say the purpose of this appeal is to make an effort towards a secure and resilient cyberspace for citizens, businesses and the government in future.

"Unbelievably, high amounts of money are lost due to cyber crimes, only 10% of which are reported. In the upcoming festival of democracy, all political parties will try and lure voters, especially, the first timer who are techno savvy youngsters. Security in the digital world will be an important issue for them," said cyber law expert and president CAO Mahendra Limaye.

Providing this security would entail protection of information in cyberspace, reducing vulnerabilities, building capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats and minimizing damage from cyber incidents through a combination of institutional structures, user awareness, process and technology enhancement and coordination among all stake holders, he added. He also insisted that there must be emphasis on training of law enforcement agencies regarding understanding importance of cyber security as a national priority and cyber crime investigation.
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Source: Secondary

Fraudsters evolve new methods says, Cyber Crime reports

MUMBAI: Cyber crimes on debit or credit card usage have more than doubled as fraudsters evolve new cloning methods to stay ahead of banks which are improving security features with chip and pin cards, according to preliminary industry data. 

The number of such crimes has increased by about 125% since a year ago, a senior official from the National Payments Corporation or NPCI, a settlement platform for e-payments, told ET on condition of anonymity. 

Every month there are up to 50 cases of travelers who have used their cards in smaller towns and when they leave it gets swiped again even though they are carrying their original card, according to data provided by cyber crime experts. 

"The rate of cyber crime on debit/credit card usage is tremendously rising at the national level," said Rakshit Tandon, Director - A&R Info Security Solutions & Advisor- Cyber Crime Unit, Uttar Pradesh Police, Agra. "Awareness about security measures is abysmally low from both customers and banks. People are falling victim either of cloning or identify theft." 

On an average there are about between 40 and 50 cases compared with between 10 and 12 cases Tandon had to deal with every month two years ago. 

It was not a joke played out on April 1, when Delhi's Santosh Pandey had read six cash withdrawal texts on his mobile phone in the morning wiping out Rs 80,000 in just five-ten minutes during midnight from Navi Mumbai ATMs, the place he has not visited even once in life. 

The country's largest lender, the State Bank of India BSE -0.73 %, will shortly make two security mechanisms fully operational: a one-time password or OTP and SMS card block facility with a brief narration. Besides, SBIBSE -0.73 % is set to run a media campaign on do's and don'ts for a customer to protect the person from any cyber attacks. 

"We have been running extensive campaigns to create awareness among customers and will pace it up. We are compliant to all RBI guidelines in this regard," said SBI's Pulak Sinha, general manager (payment solutions). The bank keeps on receiving complaints of debit card cloning, he said. 

NPCI runs a system called Fraud Monitoring Solutions where 45 scenarios have been fed to detect any possible manipulation. "It will decline transactions in such scenarios. Cloning related frauds are on the rise," said the NPCI official on condition of anonymity. But this will not trace transactions where debit cards are used within the parent bank's ATM network. 

Most of us are using debit cards encrypted with black magnetic strip on the flip side, which can easily be cloned unlike a chip-enabled card. "The entire industry hardly has one or two percent cards with chip and pin. This will not expand unless it is mandated by the regulator," said a head of a public sector bank. 

Here's how some ploys work: 

A cyber swindler typically uses skimmers, a device to take image of your cards. There are several innovative ways to use such tool. This mostly happens with travelers. 

For example, a customer uses card to pay her bills at restaurants, bars, hotels and malls. Now, a person with malicious intentions, will drop her card deliberately and bent to pick it up when the skimmer planted on his shirt pocket will take images within fraction of seconds. The same image is transferred to personal computer and then, given to manufacturers to get a duplicate card. 

For password, fraudsters take the help of "shoulder surfing", where one can trace password closely observing finger movements standing just behind user's shoulder. 

Similarly, a customer leaves potential space for skimmers when he gives his card to a third party at a petrol pump to pay bills. 

The most latest con game is that some glue is put below the key pad at ATMs so that the circuit does not function properly even if you press button but the ATM can read your card data once it gets swiped in the machine. Later, when you exit from ATM terminal, the prowler will immediately enter the same and remove the glue and will receive the desire access but for only one time. 

Con men can also get your card data cloned from the ATM slips, which almost every user drops at dustbin without destroying it completely.

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Source: Secondary

Reasons behind your credit card refusal.

BANGALORE: Sir/Madam your card got declined after swiping! Have you ever faced such situation in your life? It’s actually embarrassing even when you think about such situations. Reaching or exceeding your limit is one of the most common explanations as to why your credit card would be declined but it’s by no means the only reason. Listed below are some other, lesser-known reasons why your credit card could be declined.

 

1. Exceeding your card limit: One reason that your card got declined is you have exceeded your credit card limit. In simple words if you continue to make charges once you have hit the maximum amount your credit card company will allow you to borrow. To avoid such situations the best way is, when you reach the limit, pay down your balance or request you issuer an increase to your credit limit. There are few credit cards those have per-day spending limits. Thus before making any purchases always check how close you are to your limit by checking your account online or calling the number on the back of your card.

 

2. If you have suspicious charges: If the credit card company suspects any fraud then they can quickly freeze your credit card. This move from a credit card company will actually work in your favor if you are a victim of identity theft. But it can also happen if your own credit activity has created a security risk for instance shopping in an unusual place, doing too much of transactions in one day, making a very large purchase or trying to withdraw a lot of money from an ATM. To avoid all the confusion the best way is to call your card company and find out why there is a security problem. By doing this if there is fraud then you can stop it quickly or if you have made the charges, you might be able to resolve the issue by simply answering a few questions from the card company.

 

3. Holds on your account: There are chances that before you return a rented car or check out of a hotel room the traveling, hotels and rental car companies might place a temporary hold on your account. The hold can be for a costlier amount than your eventual charge, possibly eating up your available credit if your card is highly utilized. In simple words the hold ensures that the company gets the amount of money it needs from your use of its services and prevents you from spending beyond your credit limit. Thus while making reservations in such huge hotels do a thorough check with your credit card issuers.

 

4. Your card got expired: If you are not regularly using your credit card or not purchasing much online where you need to put your card’s expiry date then it is difficult for you to realize its expiry date. Often the credit card companies send their customers with new credit card when the old one expires. Thus it is better to check out all the mails even if it looks like junk. If your card is outdated then the merchants in both the store and online will not accept your card. Not being able to buy something is a pain, but simply placing a call to your credit card company could bring you a new one in about a week’s time.

 

5. Your personal information is outdated: Most of the merchants may require you to enter your zip code while using your credit card. By entering the wrong information can cause a rejection when you attempt to pay. To prevent such rejections, login to your account and make any necessary changes. Then proceed to swipe with confidence, knowing all your details are up-to-date. By putting in the wrong information your card will be declined. Always make sure that the card company has your current billing address and telephone number. If you move to a new place, then try to update your new address and contact number on the bank's website as soon as possible.

Know from experts, about Credit History and Credit score, visit www.cibilconsultants.com

Source: Secondary

Study says, Effective coordination is the key to contain cyber attacks.

PUNE: Better communication and information about cyber security, right investment in skilled personnel and enabling technologies together with adoption of security measures will minimize the risk of current and emerging cyber threats, says a Websense - Ponemon Institute US report. 

The report: "Exposing the Cyber security Cracks: Roadblocks, Refresh and Raising the Human Security IQ," has focused on challenges IT executives face in dealing with cyber risks, amid communication issues between IT security professionals and executives, a desire to overhaul current security systems and limited security knowledge among executives and employees. 

The findings assume importance in the wake of rise in data thefts and the eventual financial losses suffered by customers of different business organizations such as banks that are encouraging use of IT and mobile technology driven services. 

Based on a survey of nearly 5,000 global IT security professionals (including 545 in India), the report reveals a knowledge and resource gap in the enterprise - leading to an increased level of vulnerability and risk of data security breaches. 

Web sense, Inc. is engaged in protecting organizations from cyber attacks and data theft while Ponemon Institute is dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy management practices in business and government. 

Globally, 29% of respondents would do a complete overhaul of their current enterprise security system if they had the resources and opportunity, the survey showed. It said nearly half (47%) the respondents felt frequently disappointed with the level of protection a security solution they had procured while only 12% had never been disappointed in their security solutions. 

The report indicated that advanced persistent threats (APTs) and data exfiltration attacks rank among top fears for IT security professionals and 56% believed a data breach would trigger a change of security vendors. Encouragingly, 49% say they are planning to make significant investments and adjustments to their cyber security defenses in the next 12 months. 

Despite these concerns, a high 52% of companies do not provide cyber security education to their employees and less than half (42%) the employees have undergone a cyber threat modelling process in their present role, the report says, adding that of those that did, nearly all, (94%) found it to be important in terms of managing their cyber risk. 

"Advanced persistent threats and data exfiltration attacks rank the top fears for IT security professionals," said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. "These fears manifest because they believe their technology is in need of an overhaul and there is a widening gap in the knowledge and resource sharing among IT security professionals and executive staff. Encouragingly, the survey revealed plans for technology and education investment in place for the future," he added. 

Communication roadblocks are barriers to reducing the risk of a cyber attack, the survey said highlighting that 25% of cyber security teams never speak with their executive team about cyber security. Of those that did, 25% speak once a year and 18% speak twice while only one percent spoke weekly. 

Creating higher awareness among employee about IT threats and investing in training to help them combat such threats however seems to be a low priority for organizations the survey noted. Only 32% of respondents believe their company is investing enough in skilled personnel and technologies to be effective in executing its cyber security objectives or mission. In fact, 45% of companies represented in the research do not provide cyber security education to their employees, the survey revealed. 

Cyber law expert Vaishali Bhagwat told ToI that the human dimension in information security is almost ignored, yet the first to be blamed in case of a security breach incident. "Organisations run security awareness programmes to demonstrate compliance rather than deliver genuine behavior change in end users," Bhagwat said. "Security is never baked in as it is nobody's priority. In a market that is kind to the one who reaches there first, security is bound to go on the back burner unless some sanctions are imposed on organisations that release insecure products," Bhagwat said, adding, "Technology is pushed on to users without giving due consideration to human behavior and no significant efforts are being made to change human behavior so that it readily absorbs new technology to ensure its appropriate use." 

"This Ponemon Institute security survey highlights that a lack of communication, education and inadequate security systems is making it possible for cyber criminals to attack organizations across the globe," said John McCormack, Websense chief executive officer. "It's not surprising that many security professionals are disappointed with the level of protection their current solutions provide, as many still use legacy solutions that cannot disrupt the kill chain to prevent data theft." 

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Source: Secondary

Social networking mail Id should not be used for online transactions

Chandigarh: Security software maker Symantec advised internet users not to use e-mail ids being used for social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter for carrying out online banking or business transactions in order to prevent stealing of financial data. 

"They (internet users) should be more cautious while on social networking sites. They should have separate e-mail id for social networking site and other e-mail id for carrying out transactions like banking," Symantec MD Shantanu Ghosh told reporters here while replying to a query steps needed to be protected from cyber attack on social networking sites. "

We have observed that on social networking sites, people usually share their detail including personal ones with their friends as well as with those whom they do not know much and here they face the risk (of being attacked)," he said. "

Cyber attackers then can try to get into your e-mail ids through malware on these sites and try to steal vital information like credit card information," he said. He said not to click on any "untrusted" link in their e-mails or social networking site as it also poses threat of stealing important financial information of the user. 

Ghosh also cited an example when a malware in the name of bollywood female actor Katrina Kaif video was received by internet users on their e-mail ids in India and later it was found that the malware was intended to steal credit card information of the user. Acknowledging that the number of malwares in the cyber world has grown to millions in India in last few years, he also stressed on be cautious on framing a secure password for their e-mail ids to avert any cyber attack. 

"Some users use e-mail password as wife's birth date or anniversary day or birth year and most of these details are available on their social networking site account and it can also be misused by cyber attackers," he said. He added that small and medium business in cities like Chandigarh, Surat, Jaipur are facing the threat of cyber attack because of less spending by small entrepreneurs on security technology and growing use of internet. 

"Small cities, including Chandigarh, are sharing good amount of malware activity...(because) these companies are not spending much on security technology which makes them vulnerable to cyber attack," Ghosh said. He said increasing use of broadband and low awareness among entrepreneurs about malwares are also some of the reasons behind their vulnerability of cyber attack. 

"Augmented by broadband penetration, smaller and emerging cities of India are exploring opportunities offered by the virtual world in turn creating a new lucrative pool of targets for cyber criminals to exploit," he said. As per the Symantec Internet Security, a sizeable 25 per cent of small and emerging cities like Chandigarh, Surat, Cochin, Jaipur are infected by malwares.

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Source: Secondary