Online banking has become the norm for most banking related transactions which was earlier done through visiting the bank physically and by filing multiple forms. It makes life so easy for most people and saves time and waste of money to a significant extent. Furthermore, banking institutes have recognized the trend and the versatility of doing business online and looks further to expand its online presence and the services delivered to its customers through online means.
However, with the introduction of online banking a new breed of banking related frauds have spread across the globe. Hacking into online bank accounts is one such instance where the security of the online banking system has been compromised.
When someone hacks into an online bank account, the motive could most likely be to steal money and in some instances this can be the beginning of a series of frauds related to a person or to an organization. However, the account owners need to be vigilant in recognizing whether their bank account security has been compromised at all times and need to know the most essential steps to follow in such instances.
One of the first things that needs to be done in an instance of bank account hacking is to change the password of not only the hacked bank account but also the other accounts including financial, email and other social network accounts. The reason being that, it is not clear as to how the secured information became compromised and there is a likelihood that the hacker may be in possession of usernames and passwords for other accounts as well. At the same time, it may be worthwhile changing the log-in and password of the computer used for accessing these accounts.
Secondly, one should look into the financial institution in which the online bank account belongs to and follow their procedure in informing compromised bank accounts. Provide them with enough details and the suspicious activity which made hacking a probability. It is better to follow the advice given by the bank regarding the procedure one should follow in case of a hacked account. Although one may not be able to recover all the lost money if it was the case, but future losses can be prevented.
At the same time, it may be a good idea to cancel the credit cards related to the account if such compromise is imminent or even is a distant possibility.
In the mean time, one should practice safe methods in giving a password, accessing online bank accounts and keeping secure information such as passwords.
Thus, all passwords to be adequately secured it should have at least eight characters including at least one capital letter, one simple letter, a numeric and a special character. It is always best to have multiple security logins. At the same time, one should not use public computers or un-verified Wi-Fi access to log-in to online bank accounts. If done, make sure the accounts were logged off before leaving the computer although this may only lessen the risk to a small extent.
In relation to secured information such as passwords, never store them in files or in a database but remember it as much possible. This will not be a problem if the creation of the password was given enough taught and is related to things you always will remember.