Yet none of the UK’s top five banks websites made it into the top ten, in fact the UK’s leading finance website for compliance, performance and accessibility, is the site operated by Intelligent Finance.

How the websites were tested:
Accessibility to A, AA and AAA guidelines
First page, metadata and download times
Server response times
Reported site errors reported and errors per page
Site HTML warnings reported and warnings per page
Calculated site download speed

The UK finance website that showed the most improvement was the Thinc Group, its website moved 884 places up the table to 11th spot.

Source [Real Wire]

However, because of the tight rules that regulate the finance and banking industry the regulators cannot disclose the guilty banks and financial services companies, making it ok to protect their security but their customers, who are blissfully unaware of the situation.

The breaches in security include the theft of the details of over three million customers, the loss of taped recording with customers and even paper files of customer details, this was in fact an entire filing cabinet of customer’s details, which was stolen or lost.

Source [News of the World]

You have to realise that there are people and groups out there who are intent on stealing your cash and your identity. They have become very skilled in what they do and can take your cash and personal details in flash.

Here are five things that you can do to make sure that you stay one step ahead of the criminals:

Be Sure Your Firewall Is Turned On
Set Up Security On Your Wireless Network
Stop Spyware
Don’t Become A Victim Of Phishing
Beware Of Pharming

Source [James L Paris]

Therefore, in the mean time there some things that you do to either getaway from the crunch credit or just simply take some time to prepare your life for the next big push, which is not going to be that far away.

Here are some things that you may wish to consider:

Buy repossessions and invest in real estate
Invest in green technology
Start a company
Switch careers
Move somewhere you’ve always wanted to
Learn
Go on holiday!
Get your voice out there
Break bad habits & modify your lifestyle

Source [Lyved]

Obviously from the hostage’s families, the point of view is totally different and in most cases they would pay anything to get their loved one home. In the case of documentary film maker, Sean Langan, he was trying to make contact with Al-Qaeda in Pakistan when he was taken hostage.

These are very individual situations where organisations such as TV Channels send their people out to these places and feel that it is their responsibility to get them back. But from a government point of view they would rather see no ransom paid as this money can then go on to fund terrorism etc.

Source [Times]

This means that even if the computer has been infected with a programme such as malware or spyware, which is great for all computer users as this adds another level of security which helps the customers feel much safer.

The programme that they are using is called Rapport, this is made by company called Trusteer based in Israel.

The software creates a secure pipeline which the data can be pushed down without the fear of it being copied by the software which is within malware or spyware, this will take usernames and passwords which will put all of your finances in danger.

Source [Washington Post]

Anyone who has opened up a PayPal account will know that they deposit a small amount into your account to verify that the account is yours, you confirm the amount and you are then up and running.

But Michael Largent from California thought that this would be a good way of making some extra cash. He used a script which automatically opened 58,000 brokerage accounts which were linked to accounts with online banks.

The tiny deposits built up, he even managed to swindle the Google Checkout service out of over eight thousand dollars too.

Source [Wired]

The banks are now monitoring their own staff, this sort of surveillance could mean checking their emails, listening in on their phone calls, and even if they ever use text chat, this too is monitored.

Clearly this type of work is being done by computer, as software becomes more sophisticated the easier it is becoming for these monitoring systems to be put into place in many businesses and organisations.

From the consumer point of view it would seem right that bank staff is watched over, but the surveillance society is gradually creeping into all walks of our lives.

Source [MSN BC]

This practice has become known to us as Phishing and is becoming a valuable to all sorts of fraudsters who are looking to either steal your identity or just your cash, whatever the end result for you it can be the beginning of a nightmare.

However there some steps that you can take in order to protect yourself:

Always go through the URL of the website.
Never reply to emails asking for your bank account number, internet user details etc.
The old saying “When in doubt, talk”, holds true here as well.
Forward spam that is phishing for information to spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank, or organization impersonated in the phishing email.
Don’t open email attachments sent to you by strangers.
Always follow steps to a healthy PC.
Always keep your Anti Virus Software’s, Spywares and Firewalls updated.

Source [Techno Friends]

This will not be a complete shutout for PayPal users because they will be getting a warning first, it will be something like a warning at first, saying that the browser that they are using is unsafe and may be blocked in the future.

However this should not really come as surprise as PayPal have said that there are some users of the system who are still using Internet Explorer Three and Four. These browsers are unsafe and could be open to attacks from Phishing and other attacks.

This could be the beginning of many similar sites taking this type of action in order to protect their customer’s security.

Source [BBC News]