Checking your online bank accounts - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Celeree · RV-Dreams Community Member

Checking your online bank accounts

2riker2go · RV-Dreams Family Member

When I use a campground wi-fi, I always choose the "public" option instead of home network, which I think gives it a little more protection (although I'm not sure exactly what that does). I guess it makes our computer like invisible to other people on the same network. Anyway, even without that, I feel pretty comfortable with our bank's protections for their online banking. Any time that we sign into our online banking from a new computer or wireless device, I have to respond to a text that they send to my phone which approves my signing in.

-- Edited by 2riker2go on Thursday 31st of July 2014 06:23:26 AM

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

If your web connection is https and you have the lock in the title bar…then everything between your computer and the far end is encrypted. However, there can be non secure elements on a secure page and these would not be encrypted. Banks generally don't have non secure elements on their secure pages anymore but it is still a minor concern.

If you invest in a VPN account (virtual private network) then you don't connect to the bank directly but your computer connects securely to the VPN host then leaves the host to your bank. I have ProXPN and it's about 60 bucks a year but there are many other good ones available…Cloak is another pretty decent one. All of them have simple, easy to operate clients for Mac OS, Windows, Android, and iOS as well as Linux and other operating systems. Once you make the VPN connection then you just connect to your bank normally and you have absolutely security from your computer/device to the VPN host. From there the connection goes to the bank; but as I said generally there aren't any non secure elements on a secure page anymore. In days past the overhead of making everything secure was considerable but as server computers have gotten faster the overhead has gotten negligible and hence most https connections are fully secure.

Neil and Connie · RV-Dreams Family Member

2riker2go wrote:
When I use a campground wi-fi, I always choose the "public" option instead of home network, which I think gives it a little more protection (although I'm not sure exactly what that does). I guess it makes our computer like invisible to other people on the same network. Anyway, even without that, I feel pretty comfortable with our bank's protections for their online banking. Any time that we sign into our online banking from a new computer or wireless device, I have to respond to a text that they send to my phone which approves my signing in.

-- Edited by 2riker2go on Thursday 31st of July 2014 06:23:26 AM

That does nothing for you…the Public computer option just makes sure that no web page cookies or anything else is left on the computer once you log out from the bank. Since you are on your own computer choosing the public option doesn't help. If you choose it then you won't get the text option to your phone…although enabling two factor login (if possible for your financial institution) does provide some extra security…but in other areas, not the open wifi in the campground.

2riker2go · RV-Dreams Family Member

I don't get the text option for my phone when I sign in on my own computer. It's when I sign in for the first time on a new computer, like if I checked my account on my mother's computer when I'm at her house. I realize that doesn't have anything to do with the wifi in the campground. I was just saying that it's a nice security option my financial institution uses for online banking.

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Your biggest risk in using public WiFi is actually logging in to forums and other non-secure sites. If you're using the same user name & password on other sites as you do here, for example, those could be 'sniffed' and used to access your other accounts. Safest thing you can do is never use the same user name & pw combination anywhere.

Otherwise, accessing a SSL protect site is pretty secure and you don't need to worry anymore than you would just generally surfing the web anyway.

- Cherie