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 t...