Do you know how online banking evolved and how cyber security became one of the significant concerns regarding online banking? Well, had it not been for the evolution in the methods of payments and online banking, expatriates from around the world would have found it particularly difficult to send money online.
For that purpose, they leave their families and become expatriates. Technology has revolutionised the way people used to make payments in the days of yore. It has also impacted how expatriates from less developed countries such as Bangladesh send money to Bangladesh online.
A brief background
The technology evolves based on a few questions and a set of possibilities. A technology step ahead is based on ‘what if’ and ‘this instead of that’ or ‘that instead of this’. It is one of the reasons why whatever you see today never existed in this form before. Similarly, the way banks operated in the past was changed based on the abovementioned rules. That is when it was thought that currently, people send money this way.
This was the beginning of online banking, becoming an integral part of the global remittance industry. Because of this and the advent of many credible online money transfer companies such as ACE Money Transfer, the volume of international remittances is rising rapidly every year.
What is online banking?
Online banking is the ability of both the banks and the customers to carry out financial transactions domestically or internationally through the banks or the concerned financial institutions’ internet-driven websites or apps. Here are its evolutionary phases.
1981
In New York City in 1981, four of its central banks, including Citibank, Chase Manhattan, Chemical Bank and Manufacturers Hanover, tested out the innovative ways of operating by providing remote services.
1983
The Bank of Scotland provided the first UK internet banking service called Homelink. People would connect to the internet through their TVs and telephones to transfer money or pay bills.
1994
Stanford Federal Credit Union became the first financial institution in the US to provide internet banking services widely in October 1994. After a year, the Presidential Bank became the first bank in the country to allow customers online access to their accounts.
1996
The advantages of internet banking caught on with the establishment the first successful internet-only bank, NetBank. It was founded in 1996 and closed in 2007.
1999
As part of the incorporation of Bofl Holding Inc., Bank of Internet USA was officially founded on July 6, 1999. It was America’s oldest internet bank, opening for business on July 4, 2000.
2001
Bank of America made history with over 3 million customers availing of its online banking services.
2006
With the immense advantages that internet banking offered, it soon found traction in e-commerce and gained popularity there. Online banking came into the mainstream by 2006, and by then, over 80% of the US banks offered online banking services.
2009
GMAC Bank was transformed into Ally Bank. It became one of the biggest internet-only banks.
2010
Surveys after surveys and reports revealed that online banking based on the internet had been growing faster than the internet itself.
2018 – International money transfers become a routine
This is the time when online banking has become widespread and standard practice. It is the era that marks convenience for Bangladeshi expatriates to send money to Bangladesh from the UK. From here onwards, online banking has supported international remittances transfers to the point that it is considered one of the best ways to transfer money internationally.
Now, let’s look at cyber security and its phases of evolution.
What is cyber security?
Cyber security is the set of measures, and steps individuals and companies take to guard against online crimes, scams, and hacking. Where technology has eased life, it has not come without cost. With this ease, you have to remain alert against online crimes and scams as the criminals remain at least a step ahead of laws and, therefore, find solutions to technologies that have to see the light of the day.
Evolution of cyber security
The history of cybercrimes dates back to the 1970s. At that time, the computers and internet were still in the developing phase, so the breaches would typically occur physically by the people trying to access documents and information they were not supposed to have.
The 1980s
It marks the era of computer worms. The first computer worm was created in 1988 by Cornwell University’s graduate student Robert T. Morris. It was designed to infect UNIX systems. Initially, the intent was to steal data and impede the functioning of the internet and online operations. Monetary gains and strategic objectives were not conceived yet through this means.
The 1990s
The Morris worm paved the way for more and newer types of malicious programs that came to be known as computer viruses in the 1990s. As soon as these viruses began to spread on the internet, they infected millions of computers, leading to a worldwide failure of the emailing system. Here the focus slightly began to shift to financial gains and strategic objectives, previously not thought about.
The antivirus industry has begun to thrive.
With the rapid growth and massive damage to online operations, many companies began to create antiviruses. These products were meant to scan computers and clean them from worms and viruses. But it was not the kind of best solution. It also caused computers to slow down and disrupted operations. But the advancement made gradually has ensured proper protection.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
It came into being in 1995 to ensure safe browsing through the internet, and before that, surfing the internet was insecure and exposed the users’ data to risk and dangers. There have been many cases before creating the SSL internet protocol wherein people surfing the internet lost their data and sensitive information. This is now controlled through the use of SSL.
The first hacker group emerges.
Anonymous was the first hacker group that came to light on October 1, 2003. Online hackers are an organised group trying to breach the users’ internet security. They do not have one particular leader, operate in different capacities, and hail from online and offline communities.
Credit card hacking in the 2000s
After that came a time when online hacking became more targeted. The hackers became specific in their hacking, with credit cards being the primary targets. Since credit cards were somewhat new and offered payment convenience to the users, they would often fall prey to the hackers’ modus operandi. Serial data breaches happened from 2005 to 2007.
Newer and newer ways of cybercrimes are being developed to deceive the people and expatriates alike who indulge in international money transfers. The need is to take proper actions to guard against these crimes by being careful and following the guidelines.