Online banking customers with several high street organisations could be at risk of fraudulent attacks, a new study has suggested.
Recent research conducted by Ben Smyth - a researcher from the University of Birmingham’s School of Computer Science - revealed that RBS, NatWest and Halifax all use websites with particularly poor security.
Consequently, there is growing concern that millions of customers could potentially fall victim to online attacks if scammers can easily infiltrate such sites.
Mr Smyth noted that many account holders could be hit with fraudlent attacks from former partners or estranged family members, as questions generated by bank websites when users forget their passwords are too easy to guess.
"Millions of people could be at risk from
online banking sites that are poorly designed," he explained. "Banks are too interested in making their sites user friendly, instead of secure."
However, banks rarely admit that their websites are an easy entry point for fraudsters, despite online attacks being on the rise.
According to recent figures, banks lost around £59.7 million to online crime in 2009, an increase of 14 per cent compared to the previous year.
