Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[Aitch]

Hi

I found this Firefox extension that sets up 'safe banking' account info access

https://www.wesabe.com/groups/39-uk-wesabe-users

video demo

http://lifehacker.com/282410/manage-your-money-with-wesabe-firefox-uploader

Anyone heard of/tried it?

Is banking safe?

How do you bank online?

Come on, we all use money, banks, & computers, but where do you get reliable information about safe banking, as I never know who to trust online?

Funny, but I feel safer asking here....

Is it different in different countries, locations?

Any tips welcome

Aitch

[Sylvander]

1. I like doing banking on the web.
Don't like telephone banking.
Have no worries about it being unsafe, especially when working from Puppy Linux.
I was seeking a way to increase the security of online banking and that's how I ended up using Puppy.

2. How do I do it?
(a) Most important is the fact I use the FREE PORTABLE version of Acerose Password Vault to SAFELY and SECURELY store ALL of the necessary info like URL's, usernames, passwords, security info, etc.
This portable program can be run from any OS that can access it.
I can [and DO] run it from Windows, or within Puppy Linux under WINE.
It can auto-generate passwords of a complexity/length you choose.
To run a webpage/site, you either double-click the entry/line for the site, or else highlight the line and click "Launch" [or whatever].
Then I right-click the line and choose "Edit", and a window opens that displays all the [username, password, etc] info for that site.

(b) Once at my normal bank's login webpage...
I only need to copy and paste into their respective boxes, the username, password, security item, and click the login button.
Works EVERY TIME.
If you ever change security info [by whatever means=online,phone,branch], it is necessary to record and save the changes in the password vault.
I once changed info online, changed and saved in the vault, tried to save online, and the attempt failed; OUCH!
Had to restore one of the 5 auto-backups to get the old info back so I could make a 2nd attempt.

(c) Because the banking website URL is SAFELY stored within the [encrypted] vault...
Even if a hacker had access to my OS, [s]he couldn't alter the URL to redirect me to a fake site.
I'm told that it would be possible to see what is being copied and pasted, but I don't know the details of how that might be done.

(d) To gain access to the vault, I must type in my username and a long complex but easily remembered password.
Those are the only things I need to memorize; all of the rest in in the vault.
The program makes the number of auto-backups the user specifies, and saves them where told.
I also make SyncBack backups [run under WINE within a Puppy Linux] saved [from an internal partition other than C:][of the entire contents of the partition] to an external USB HDD that's powered off most of the time, so there's no way I'm going to lose [all copies of] the info inside the vault.

3. Web banking is really easy and convenient.
(a) I can view the up-to-date state of all accounts, with lists of all recent transactions.

(b) It's really easy to make bill payments or fund transfers to various accounts for which I have made up transfer details.
You just pick a "transfer to account", and specify the amount to send.
New transfer details are easy to set up.

(c) "Standing Orders" are easy to set up and amend.

(d) "Paperless Statements" can be archived for 2 years [long list for each account], and viewed at any time.

4. Also have a Cahoot credit card account.
Chose it because of the "Cahoot Webcard".
This installs a program that runs in the background.
When buying online at a website, and credit/debit card details are asked for...
I click the Cahoot icon down in the system tray.
It automatically connects securely to its website...
I provide security info using the password vault...
It gives details of a one-off virtual credit card.
I specify the value limit of the transaction [slightly more than the amount to pay]...
I type in the card details and the transaction completes.
But this card can only be used ONCE, and since it has just been used it cannot be used again [cannot be misused].