Modern Techniques Used Against MSM and MITM Attacks and Approaches to Secure Online Banking

21st Century Online Banking
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21st Century Online Banking
Introduction
In the 1980s, the concept of online banking was developed, but it was not until 1995 that the innovation became available for mass adoption. Since then, almost all banks across the United States and other countries globally have been offering online banking services. For example, the number of online banking users increased by over 170% between 2001 and 2006 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, over 53 million users, that is, one out of every five adults, have used online banking since 2005 (Begum, 2021). These numbers correspond to a 47% increase in online banking usage among Americans since 2004 (Noori, 2015). This trend is also happening in many other countries across Europe as the demands for online banking have increased due to its speed and efficiency. While an increase in innovation and adoption of the technology sector has improved efficiency in the once time-consuming banking sector, these innovations have also provoked interest in the exploration of malware injections and spoofing mechanisms against online banking systems. The use of Malicious Software Attacks (MSW) and Man in the Middle Attacks (MITM) has become a constant threat to the online banking space's current and future innovations. In fact, the increase in the number of online banking cybercrimes is dependent on the network infrastructure of the banking industries. In order to mitigate such threats, different innovations such as ISC, AXS-Card, mTAN, FINREAD, and IBM's ZTIC have been developed. However, all these products have their strengths and shortcomings in terms of their functionalities. Therefore, this paper will demonstrate modern techniques used against MSM and MITM attacks. Additionally, an in-depth review of IMB ZTIC will be provided, demonstrating the management information system's technicalities involved in securing online baking systems while exploring desirable features that these systems should possess to make a product feasible. Finally, the paper will identify better approaches to securing online banking by comparing and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of available approaches.
Growth of Online Banking
At the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a dramatic increase in the usage of internet banking services in most financial institutions. The number of users taking advantage of online services has continued to increase yearly. While users utilize many services in the online banking space, the top three financial activities include access to bank account information such as balances, bill payment services, and purchasing products with third-party companies such as e-commerce platforms. According to a survey conducted in 2004 to analyze online banking users' behavior, the report found out that over 23 million users in the United States logged into their online accounts in the first quarter of 2001 (Li et al., 2017). In 2003, these numbers grew by 30%. Out of the 23 million users, over 4.6 million users regularly used online bill payment services offered by the top five financial institutions (Kiyan et al., 2020). The research also highlighted that the usage of online bank services, especially bill payments, increased by 27% in the first quarter of 2003 (Noori, 2015). According to Jim Larrison, the Vice President of comScore, an American marketing data and analytics company, bill payments and online banking has become one of the fastest-growing user-application of the internet in the 21st century. With the changing customer demands, expectations towards banking and lifestyle, today's banking activities are largely powered by digital technologies. Improvements in digital systems through cloud computing, application programming interfaces, machine learning, chatbots, and robotic process automation technologies have also accelerated the growth of the online banking market growth. While many factors have accelerated the growth and adoption of online banking, the most critical components include mobile penetration, lower interests rates, and innovative banking services.
An increase in smartphone usage and internet penetration in the United States and other countries across Europe has led to the continuous rise in demand for online banking services, and this trend is expected to rise over the next decades. With internet penetration, online banking services have enabled real-time payment solutions, allowing users to perform regular banking transactions online. Furthermore, the massive standardization and expansion of mobile application products and services have increased customer brand loyalty, thereby propelling online banking services' market growth. Convenience is another factor that has propelled the growth of online banking services in the United States. In addition to the ease of access and convenience of online banking, these services' high yield interest rates have created income opportunities for most banks in the united states. Additionally, online banking has provided cost efficiency since there are no physical branches to maintain normal banking processes. Finally, the rise of digitalization in corporate banking has enabled investors to track their investment portfolios while they trade and readily access their funds. Among other fintech solutions, these features have increased corporate investments and provided lucrative opportunities to research and develop future innovative products.
The Decline in Customer Trust
Even though most researchers predict an increase in online banking activities and growth in the future, the low-cost channel in the financial sectors has seen a significant decline in customer's trust. While growth is evident, Informa Research's survey indicated a significant decline in users' confidence in online banking since 2005 (Loganathan, et al., 2020). According to the report, consumers' confidence in online banking services declined to 58% from 79%. Companies such as Gartner Research and Entrust Security demonstrated a worrying trend of online banking services among users. According to research by Gartner, there has been a significant increase in media reports on consumer data compromise, phishing attacks, and unauthorized access to customer data which has negatively impacted consumer confidence in online banking transactions ((Loganathan, et al., 2020). The survey results indicated that over two-thirds of online bank users in the United States feel that online attacks have negatively influenced their banking activities. More than three-quarters of the study group less frequently log into their online bank accounts, while nearly 35% no longer use online banking to perform banking transactions such as bill payments (Sadeghi & Farokhian, 2016). According to the Vice President of Gartner, these concerns have serious implications on banks, especially those that want to reduce their operating costs by using email to send bills. Based on the company's research, sending bills through the internet costs over half less than sending the same bill through regular mail. While many factors have increased the decline of customer trust in online banking services, the most significant ones are phishing attacks and an increase in data security breaches.
Phishing attacks have become a major concern for online banking and internet security. These attacks are largely responsible for the loss of consumer confidence in internet banking. According to Sadeghi and Farokhian (2016), over $1.3 billion was in the United States due to credit card phishing attacks whereby attackers deceptively obtained critical user da...