Services in the digital era – straightforward and secure

Although banks offer secure mobile products, it’s always a good idea to pause and reflect more closely on their security features. We recommend that you bear information security – and indeed security in general – in mind when using new solutions that make banking easier. 

Straightforward can also be secure

Customers want straightforward mobile services that are easy to use. However, the most important feature of the services must be that they are secure. Security often consists of both visible and non-visible features. The latter are usually in the background, making the service easy to use. 

Thanks to the visible security features, customers do not experience an unnecessary sense of insecurity if a service or a product seems ‘too’ easy to use. Ignorance is not bliss – quite the contrary. Accurate and up-to-date information about the security of a service or product eliminates user uncertainty and helps them better understand how their banking is secured. 

Biometrics will bring a new kind of security

In the near future, biometrics will bring a new kind of security to users. While the term might still sound remote and unfamiliar, biometrics will be the next step in security. The term itself comes from Greek – ‘bio’ means life and ‘metron’ means to measure.

Secure biometrics solutions capitalise on the uniqueness of the individual, and are thus a more secure alternative than traditional passwords. Fingerprint identification used for logging into Nordea’s Mobile Bank is an example.

Information security is everybody’s responsibility

Information security requires action and vigilance from everyone. Most of all, it requires being up-to-date on the latest data information threats. Communicating security threats requires a swift reaction from the banks so that they can inform customers of any threats immediately. The most important purpose of communication is to prevent and minimise risks and information security threats. Healthy scepticism when surfing online is recommended. For example, if an offer appears too good to be true, then it probably is.

How individuals can improve information security:

• Protect your devices and apps with passwords, and do not use the same password everywhere
• Be critical and questioning
• If your’re not sure about what you’re about to do, for instance clicking on a suspicious link masked as a too-good-to-be-true offer, then don’t click on it.

The author Noora Hammar works at Nordea and is responsible for authentication products and their development; tunnuslukusovellus (Nordea Codes app in Finland) is one of them. 

You can follow Noora on Twitter @HammarNoora.