The Top 5 Ways Hackers Get Into Your Bank Account

Bank Hacking:

With the increasing prevalence of online bank hacking, it is no surprise that hackers have become adept at infiltrating banks and stealing user information. Bank Transfer Hacker are constantly on the lookout for security loopholes they can exploit to gain access to customer bank accounts. As a result, both individual users and banks need to understand how hackers are gaining access to bank accounts so they can stay one step ahead of the criminals.

The Top 5 Ways Hackers Get Into Your Bank Account:

In recent years, cybercrime has become increasingly sophisticated and banks are prime targets for these attacks. Hackers have found a variety of ways to breach bank security and gain access to customer accounts. To protect your finances, it’s important to understand how hackers can get into your bank account so you can take the necessary steps to prevent it.

1. Social Engineering: Social engineering is one of the most common techniques used by hackers to gain access to your bank account. This involves manipulating people into giving out sensitive information that can be used to access your account.
2. Malware: Malware is malicious software designed to steal sensitive information such as passwords or bank details. It can be installed on a computer without the user’s knowledge and can be used to log keystrokes, record screenshots and even hijack the system’s webcams.
3. Skimming: Skimming is a form of physical theft where a device is placed over an ATM Card  or payment terminal to capture data from the card’s magnetic strip.
4. Unsecured Wi-Fi: Using public Wi-Fi networks is a major security risk because they are often unsecured, making it easy for hackers to intercept the data being sent and received by connected devices.
5. Data Breaches: Data breaches occur when malicious actors gain unauthorized access to databases containing sensitive information. This includes bank details and other financial data which can be used to access accounts and make fraudulent transactions.

Malware For Mobile Banking:

These days, your smartphone may be used to manage all of your finances. Typically, a bank will offer a dedicated app where you may log in and access your account information. Although useful, this has evolved into a crucial attack method for malware developers.

Users Being Duped by False Banking Apps:

By impersonating an established financial app, an attack can be carried out more easily. A virus writer makes an exact copy of a bank’s app and posts it on unofficial websites. Your login and password are entered into the program when you download it, and the hacker receives them.

Using a False Banking App in Place of a Real One:

The mobile banking Trojan is the most cunning variant. These aren’t posed as a bank’s official app; instead, a Trojan is typically hidden inside a totally unrelated curriculum. The Trojan starts searching your phone for banking apps as soon as you install this app.

The malware instantly launches a window that resembles the app you just started when it notices that the victim is starting a financial app. If done correctly, the user won’t notice the switch and will submit their information into the fictitious login screen. The malware author receives these facts and uploads them.

How to Protect Yourself From Trojans in Mobile Banking:

Pay attention to an app’s download history when you download it from the app store. It’s too soon to say whether or not an application contains malware if it has a very small number of downloads and few to no reviews.

This is especially true if you encounter a “official app” for a well-known bank with a low number of downloads—probably it’s a fake. Given how well-liked the bank is, there ought to be a lot of downloads for official apps.

Similarly, exercise caution when granting apps permissions. Keep yourself safe and don’t enable the app to install if a mobile game requests rights from you without providing any context as to why it needs them. You can be hacked using even “harmless” programmes like Android Accessibility Services.

Finally, avoid installing banking applications from third-party websites because malware is more likely to be present there. Official app stores are far safer than a random internet page, despite the fact that they are far from perfect.

Phishing:

Hackers’ attempts to fool users into clicking their links have increased as the public gets more aware of phishing techniques. Hacking solicitors’ email accounts and sending phishing emails from a previously trusted address is one of their nastiest methods.

How challenging it would be to detect the scam is what makes this hack so catastrophic. The hacker may even address you by name as the email address would be authentic. This is exactly how an unhappy property buyer who replied to a previously valid email address wasted £67,000.

Defending Yourself Against Phishing:

It goes without saying that you should be suspicious of the contents of any email with a suspicious-looking email address. Try to verify the email with the sender if something feels suspicious even though the address appears to be real. But preferably not by email in case account security has been breached.

Keyloggers:

One of the stealthier methods a hacker can access a bank account is using this sort of attack. A sort of spyware called a keylogger records what you type and sends it back to the hacker. That can appear unremarkable at first. But consider what would happen if you entered the web URL of your bank, then your username and password. The hacker would possess all the necessary data to access your account.

Defending Yourself Against Keyloggers:

Install a top-notch antivirus program, and make sure it periodically monitors your PC. An effective antivirus program will detect a keylogger and remove it before it can cause any harm. Make sure to setup two-factor authentication if your bank offers it. Because of this, a keylogger is far less effective because even if a hacker has your login information, they won’t be able to reproduce the authentication code.

Attacks by “Man-in-the-Middle”

A hacker may occasionally attempt to obtain your information by intercepting communications between you and the bank’s website. Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) Attacks are exactly what their name implies—a hacker intercepts communications between you and a reliable provider.

An MITM attack often entails watching over a vulnerable server and studying the data that is transmitted via it. The hackers “sniff out” your information when you submit your login credentials over this network and take it.

However, a hacker may occasionally employ DNS cache poisoning to alter the website that you go to when you input a URL. By virtue of a tainted DNS cache, will instead direct them to a copycat website run by the hacker. When you’re not careful, you can find yourself providing the phoney site with your login information because this copy of the real site will look exactly the same.

Defending Yourself Against MITM Attacks:

Never carry out any delicate operations on a public or unprotected network. Use something more secure, like your home Wi-Fi, to be on the safe side. Additionally, make sure HTTPS is present in the address bar whenever you access a private website. There’s a strong probability you’re viewing a phoney website if it’s not there.  Your data is encrypted by a VPN service before it is transmitted by your computer over the network. All that would be visible to anyone watching your connection would be unreadable encrypted packets.

SIM Switching:

Some of the biggest issues for hackers are SMS authentication codes. They can avoid these checks, sadly, and they don’t even need your phone to do it.  A hacker contacts your network provider while posing as you to carry out a SIM replacement. They claim to have misplaced their phone and would like your current number, which is their previous number, to be transferred to their SIM card.

When they are successful, the network operator will remove your SIM’s phone number and replace it with the hacker’s SIM. This is possible with a social security number, as we discussed in our article on the security risks of 2FA and SMS verification.

They can simply get around SMS codes when they have your number on their SIM card. The bank sends an SMS verification code to their phone rather than yours when they log into your bank account. They can then easily access your account and withdraw the funds.

How to Protect Yourself Against SIM Switching:

Of course, mobile networks frequently query users to verify that the transfer requester is who they claim to be. As a result, in order to carry out a SIM exchange, con artists often gather your personal data in order to go past the checks. Always keep your personal information private to prevent identity theft. It’s also important to verify that your cell service provider is protecting you against SIM switching.