Cops say, use Mac, not Windows for online banking

Mon, 10/12/2009 - 3:55am — Jonny Evans

When in doubt, there’s always a security story somewhere and this one’s got something rather, erm, ‘special’ about it - it hits us right in our wallet...

See, internet banking is becoming de rigeur. It’s the nicest way to visit your overdraft or to watch the numbers growing on your credit card statement as those punitive borrowing rates slowly enhance your debt. (So, how is it again banks lost all that money), anyway - I digress - the story is that now Australian police are warning citizens ‘down under’ to belay use of Windows for internet banking, advising they use a Mac or Linux machine instead.

"Detective Inspector Bruce van der Graaf from the Computer Crime Investigation Unit told the hearing that he uses two rules to protect himself from cybercriminals when banking online," Kotadia reports. "The first rule, he said, was to never click on hyperlinks to the banking site and the second was to avoid Microsoft Windows,” reports a local Ozzie tech title.

The Detective is anxious that any future laws passed by the Australian government to help make online banking more secure may demand ISP’s check for things like firewalls and the like, as the MUCH SAFER Mac and Linux systems don’t tend to use them (he reckons - don’t shoot the messenger, people)..

In his own words, then, rather than this tedious translation: “Van der Graaf said he mentioned the two alternatives to Windows because he was concerned about any future law that could require internet service providers or banks to check their users had protection before allowing them to connect. 'If you had a rule where ISPs would have to check for firewalls or that sort of thing, people using this safer system would not be able to do their internet banking. People using an iPhone, which is quite safe, would then not be able to do their internet banking,' he added."

‘Course, Windows 7 will solve ALL these things, won’t it, as it’s already winning pretty wide praise for being the closest OS to a Mac that Microsoft’s ever shipped - well, kind of - take a look...

Via: MacDailyNews

( Filed Under:

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Comments

visa locks out mac users

Mon, 10/12/2009 - 5:02am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

i would agree but the sh*tty thing is that the website of VISA in holland (ran by interpay) does not even allow mac users to login! they claim to be aware of it and working on it (has been over a year they told me this!). luckily the regular bank sites work fine on a mac..

The Danish Popo recently

Mon, 10/12/2009 - 5:14am — 9to5Mac Noobster (not verified)

The Danish Popo recently upgraded their survailance system for stuff like security under the upcoming climate meeting and Obamas visit - They use mac minis for sending info to the big screens. (read 73 mac minis in the server-room!)

http://www.computerworld.dk/art/53198
http://www.computerworld.dk/art/53198?page=2
http://www.computerworld.dk/art/53198?page=3

[Sorry - Danish text only :( ]

Not to rain on your parade, but

Mon, 10/12/2009 - 5:30am — MikeP (not verified)

In the linked article, the Policeman, Bruce van der Graaf, did not mention anything about Mac computers at all. I quote:

"If you are using the internet for a commercial transaction, use a Linux boot up disk - such as Ubuntu or some of the other flavours. Puppylinux is a nice small distribution that boots up fairly quickly.

"It gives you an operating system which is perfectly clean and operates only in the memory of the computer and is a perfectly safe way of doing internet banking," van der Graaf said."

He does, though, mention the iPhone as it can only run a single process. To quote:

'"Another option is the Apple iPhone. It is only capable of running one process at a time so there is really no danger from infection," he said.'

So, no cops don't say, use Mac, not Windows, at all. What they actually say is use a Linux boot disk or possibly an iPhone. No mention of Mac's at all.

Albeit you are a blog, I would expect you to at least read your linked articles, then report on what was actually said, not on your own interpretations.

Dang. Beat me to it

Mon, 10/12/2009 - 5:55am — the Cappy (not verified)

Dang. Beat me to it :)

Strangely, he thinks the iPhone version of OS X is incapable of more than one process. So he gives a good recommendation for the wrong reasons.

Oh get a @£$*%^& life!

Mon, 10/12/2009 - 6:12am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

Whether the Aussie cop did, or did not mention Mac, is irrelevant. Linux and it's other flavours, which could very well include Mac OS X, both platforms are UNIX based to a greater or lesser degree, unlike of course Windows, which isn't. So it's reasonable to conclude that the guy was also recommending OS X (alongside Linux et al). Rather logical I'd say.

"Linux and it's other

Mon, 10/12/2009 - 6:44am — RMS (not verified)

"Linux and it's other flavours, which could very well include Mac OS X."
No it doesn't. OSX is not Linux, just like how Solaris is not Linux; FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD is not Linux; Plan 9 is not Linux; etc. The fact that it is a Unix-like system doesn't mean anything because the point he makes about Windows is that it could be infected. OSX, contrary to what Apple marketers and Apple diehard users want you to think, is not completely immune to malware. Linux isn't immune either. That's why he suggests a Live CD Linux, which gives you a clean system every time.