Security tips for online banking customers
Security of the bank customer’s systems
The bank customer is fundamentally responsible for the security of his own computer systems because they are beyond Baader Bank AG’s sphere of influence.
Unfortunately, there are many swindlers on the Internet and online banking is a frequent target of attacks. Read on to learn how you can protect your online banking accounts against unauthorized access and what measures you can take to protect yourself.
Protect your computer
You should check your computer software for viruses at regular intervals of time. Anti-virus programs should be used for this purpose. In addition, you should install a private firewall on your computer to monitor access to your computer from the Internet while you are online.
Whenever possible, you should conduct your online banking business only from your own devices. Special care should be taken particularly when accessing your online banking accounts from publicly accessible computers of the kind found in Internet cafés, for example. Always log out after every online banking session and delete the cache on your computer after conducting bank transactions.
Confirm the authenticity of the bank’s website
When you start your online banking session, pay attention to the address line in your browser. The address (URL) displayed there must start with “https.” The Internet address should be the same in every one of your visits. If you are routed to a page that may look right, but does not have the familiar address, terminate the session immediately.
To be safe, you should always access your online account from the Baader Bank website. The access data should not be saved in your browser.
Encrypted data transmission
Make sure the website has secure SSL encryption. The lock symbol in the address line of your browser indicates that your data is being transmitted securely. The lock must always be shown in the closed position. Many browsers will also display the address field with green shading.
Moreover, the prefix “https” in the web address (instead of the usual “http”) indicates an encrypted data line. The additional “s” stands for secure. Baader Bank AG’s web pages for banking business are always SSL-encrypted. This encryption ensures that no one can read or modify your data during transmission.
Protect your login data
You must use your PIN and your mobile transaction number (TAN) to authorize payments. You must take care to prevent this sensitive data from falling into the hands of strangers. This data should not be stored on your computer. Baader Bank will never ask you for your access data, your PIN or your mobile TAN, either in person, on the telephone, or in an e-mail. You should be suspicious if you are asked to enter extensive information that makes no sense for your desired transaction. If you suspect that someone may know your PIN or valid TAN or if you have lost your access device, terminate your online banking activity immediately and inform the bank, which will then block all online access. You can block access yourself by entering a wrong PIN three times when logging in to the bank’s website. You can then request a new PIN and TAN from Baader Bank AG.
If you have doubts or something seems suspicious to you while you are connected to online banking, you should terminate the session, to be on the safe side.
If you receive a suspicious e-mail from Baader Bank AG, please forward it to kundenservice@baaderbank.de. Baader Bank will review the situation and prevent the e-mail from spreading further.
Use encrypted data transmission
If your browser indicates that a key could not be successfully verified while connected to Baader Bank AG online banking, select “Cancel” immediately because it cannot be guaranteed in this case that the connection is secure. Please inform Baader Bank AG Customer Service whenever this happens.
Please remember that data encryption protects your confidential account data from access by third parties. Nonetheless, your Internet service provider can determine when and with whom you have had online contact. By law, this information must be retained for a prescribed period of time, for purposes of combating terrorism, for example.
Set a daily limit for cash movements
You can set a daily limit for your online banking transactions. Every request that exceeds this limit will be automatically refused.
The daily limit should be set on the basis of your average transfers per day. Naturally, you can always change the limit.
Log out after concluding your online banking session
The last important step of every online banking session is logging out. For this purpose, there is a clearly designated button labelled “Log out” on the online banking website.
It is not enough to simply close the browser window instead of logging out. Important data (e.g. cookies) may remain in the browser, which an unknown party can use to “take over” the session. You must explicitly log out in order for this data to be securely deleted.