Bank of Ireland 365 online Security Information

At Bank of Ireland 365 online we understand how important the security and confidentiality of your information is. Keeping customers information secure is a top priority for us, but it is also important for you to protect your security online. Learn more by clicking on a link below or alternatively visit www.makeitsecure.ie for guidance on how best to protect your personal information.

• 3 Key Steps to Online Security
• Fake Emails And Websites
• Fraudulent Pop-ups
• Viruses
• Spyware
• How to protect your online security
• How we protect your security online
• How To Report Online Fraud
• Security Definitions

• Consider using a personal firewall
• Ensure that the operating system and other software (especially your browser) are regularly updated
• Ensure that you have up-to-date, supported and licensed anti-virus software in place

More detailed security steps are outlined in our "How to protect your online security" section.

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Often called "Phishing" these fake emails or websites appear to represent a legitimate company and try to obtain confidential account details with a view to conducting illegal transactions on your account. Please note that Bank of Ireland will never send emails which require customers to send personal information via email or pop-up windows. Any unsolicited requests for Bank of Ireland account information you receive through pop-up windows, emails, or Web sites should be considered fraudulent and reported immediately.

Your email address can be obtained from publicly available sources or through randomly generated lists. Therefore, if you receive a fake email that appears to be from Bank of Ireland, this does not mean that your email address, name, or any other information has been gathered from Bank of Ireland’s systems.

Fake emails will often:

1. Appear to be from a legitimate source. While some emails are easy to identify as fraudulent, others may appear to be from a legitimate address and trusted online source. However, you should not rely on the name or address in the "From" field, as this is easily altered.
2. Ask you for personal information. Fake emails often contain an overly generic greeting and may claim that your information has expired, been corrupted or been lost, and that you must immediately resend it.
3. Link to counterfeit Web sites. Fake emails may direct you to counterfeit Web sites carefully designed to look real, but which actually collect personal information for illegal use.
4. Link to real Web sites. In addition to links to counterfeit Web sites, some fake emails also include links to legitimate Web sites. The fraudsters do this in an attempt to make a fake email appear real.
5. Contain fraudulent phone numbers. Fake emails often contain telephone numbers that are linked to the fraudsters. Never call a number featured on an email you suspect is fraudulent, and be sure to double-check any numbers you do call.
6. Contain real phone numbers. Some of the telephone numbers listed in fake emails may be legitimate, connecting to actual companies. Just like with links, fraudsters include the real phone numbers in an effort to make the email appear legitimate.

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Pop-up windows are the small windows or ads that appear suddenly over or under the window you are currently viewing. Fraudulent pop-up windows are a type of online fraud often used to obtain personal information with a view to conducting illegal transactions on your account.

Please note that Bank of Ireland 365 online does not use pop-up windows to request your account information. We will never display a pop-up window on our site that is not user initiated by you clicking on a link.

Pop-up windows are often the result of programs installed on your computer called “adware” or “spyware.” These programs look in on your Web viewing activity and regularly come hidden inside many free downloads, such as music-sharing software or screen savers. Many of these programs enable harmless advertisements, but some contain “Trojan horse” programs that can record your keystrokes or relay other information to an unauthorized source.

Any unsolicited requests for Bank of Ireland account information you receive through pop-up windows should be considered fraudulent and reported immediately.

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A computer virus is merely a program that attaches itself to another program or data file in order to spread and reproduce itself without the knowledge of the user.

The effects of these viruses can vary widely depending on what they were designed to do; some viruses are annoying but cause no significant damage; others can be quite harmful and can even erase data, corrupt disks or in the case of business computers,degrade a network's performance.

As viruses are designed to hide their presence in legitimate programs or data files, viruses are usually spread from computer to computer by individuals who are unaware they are doing so. The main methods by which viruses are generally transmitted include:

• Attachments to e-mail messages
• Files downloaded from the Internet
• Using infected disks or compact disks (CDs)

Common symptoms that your computer may have a virus:

• Applications that don't work properly
• Disks can't be accessed
• Printing doesn't work correctly
• Pull-down menus are distorted
• File size changes for no apparent reason
• Date of last access does not match date of last use
• An increase in the number of files on the system when nothing has been added
• Uncommanded disk drive activity
• Unusual error messages
• System slows down, freezes or crashes

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'Spyware' is software that is downloaded onto your hard disk, without your knowledge. Once there, it can collect information from your computer system and may transmit it elsewhere. It may also gather and transmit information about e-mail addresses, passwords and online banking details.

How to recognise Spyware:

You may have contracted spyware if the following symptoms occur:

• Pop-up ads appear, even offline, often for 'adult' sites
• Your homepage/search settings unexpectedly change
• Your browser toolbar changes and is hard to restore
• System performance deteriorates unexpectedly

How to avoid Spyware:

• Install a reliable anti-spyware application
• Ensure the application is kept up to date
• Use a firewall
• Adjust security settings on your browser to a sufficiently high level - the higher the security level, the lower the risk. By default, Internet Explorer classifies all Web sites into a single zone (the Internet zone) and assigns everything medium level security. When you are using this level of security, Internet Explorer will ask you to confirm that you want to download a file, unless you have previously indicated that the website or publisher is trusted. If you are using an alternative Web browser, check the providers instructions on how to limit your exposure to spyware by configuring the browser settings
• Be security conscious when surfing and downloading
• Only download from sites you trust
• Read security information before you download software
• Never click "Agree" or "OK" to an unexpected pop-up or window. Instead, close the window by clicking on the "x" button on the top right hand corner of the window

What to do if you think you have Spyware:

• Install and run anti-spyware software to remove any spyware from your system
• Keep it updated and use it to perform regular checks on your computer system
• Check whether or not your Internet Service Provider (ISP) offers anti-spyware software

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Bank of Ireland 365 online is continuously working to ensure the security of your online banking. With your help we can reduce the risk posed by online fraudulent activity. Below is a list of some simple steps to take to protect your accounts.

1. Always log-out of your browser after you use Bank of Ireland 365 online.
2. Do not release passwords (power-on, log-on, screensaver, Internet account, Bank of Ireland 365,etc.) to anyone. Remember that you alone are accountable for actions carried out when your user identification is used.
3. Ensure that the operating system and other software on your PC is fit for purpose and is configured appropriately.
4. Ensure that the operating system and other software (especially your browser) are regularly updated with relevant security patches and bug-fixes (available frequently from the vendor sites). Subscribe to your vendor's security mailing lists and apply updates as appropriate to your operating system.
5. Ensure that you have up-to-date, supported and licensed anti-virus software in place.
6. Consider activating a pop-up blocker. Some browsers now incorporate this functionality by default.
7. Consider using a personal firewall.
8. Do not open unsolicited e-mail (in particular, any attachments that are associated with this form of communication). Be sure of your sender.
9. Do not send confidential information via Internet e-mail unless appropriately secured.
10. Always check the validity of the certificate on a website where you enter personal details (passwords, payments etc.).
11. Be wary of the content of unsolicited e-mails appearing to come from a trusted source asking you to validate your logon / payment credentials. Always check with the institution first using their pre-registered / published contact details (not details supplied in the e-mail).
12. Use secure Web sites for transactions and shopping. Be sure the Web page you are viewing offers encryption of your data. Often you will see a lock symbol in the lower right-hand corner of your browser window, or the Web address of the page you are viewing will begin with "https://...". The "s" indicates "secured" and means the Web page uses encryption. Bank of Ireland 365 online, for instance, provides 128-bit encryption - the highest level commercially available today.
13. If in doubt please contact our Online Banking Helpdesk at 1890 365 200 (for Republic of Ireland customers), 0845 7 365 555 (for Northern Ireland customers) or 0845 7 365 333 (for Great Britain customers). Opening Hours 9am to 7pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank / Public Holidays).

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1. When logging on to Bank of Ireland 365 online we will ask you to provide your own private and individual user id and pin in conjunction with a personal detail question. This information is encrypted during transmission and will remain a secret as long as you do not disclose it. We use what is known as 128 bit SSL to ensure the highest level of security of information passing between our customers and ourselves.
2. Bank of Ireland 365 online requires the use of a secure browser to access account information and perform transactions.
3. The bank is protected by a firewall, which forms a barrier between the outside Internet and the internal bank network.
4. Your name, address and full bank account number will never appear on screen. Beneficiary details will appear on screen and in the receipt which you can print off when the bank confirms your instruction to make a funds transfer or pay a bill.
5. After a 5 minute period of inactivity your current session on the web site will automatically timeout. To restart your session, all you have to do is re-enter your User ID, PIN and password at the login screen.

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If you receive a fraudulent email, pop-up or web page report it immediately to our Online Banking Help Desk on 1890 365 200 (for Republic of Ireland customers), 0845 7 365 555 (for Northern Ireland customers) or 0845 7 365 333 (for Great Britain customers). Opening Hours 9am to 7pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank / Public Holidays) or email us at 365security@boimail.com. Alternatively you can call us at 1890 365 365 between the hours of 7pm and 12 midinght Monday to Friday and 10am to 2pm on Saturdays. Do not reply or follow any of the specified instructions, regardless of how genuine they may appear.

Monitor your accounts on a regular basis and report any suspicious money transfers, payments or unauthorised access immediately. One of the best ways to detect fraudulent activity quickly is by examining your account activity regularly.

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A secure browser means you can send and receive messages using technology, which encrypts the information so it's virtually impossible for anyone other than you and the Bank to read it. Use an Internet browser that has SSL encryption version 3.0 or higher to conduct secure transactions over the Internet. Netscape Navigator, Netscape Communicator, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are all examples of browsers that employ Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to communicate with appropriately configured servers.

An encryption that creates a secure communication channel by encrypting information while it is transmitted over the Internet to prevent the information being intercepted or modified. SSL authenticates that the server you've connected to is the one it purports to be. We use what is known as 128 bit SSL to ensure the highest level of security of information passing between our customers and ourselves. You can be assured that you are actually communicating with the bank, and not a third party trying to intercept the transaction.

The purpose of a firewall is to ensure only the banks traffic is allowed to pass to the banks systems and networks - all other traffic from the Internet is rejected. The firewall verifies the source and destination of each message, and determines whether or not to let the message through. Access is denied if the message is not directed at a specific service.

Internet communications are not secure unless the data is encrypted. This allows for the transfer of digitally signed certificates for authentication procedures and provides message integrity, so that information cannot be tampered with in transit.

When a session is encrypted, certain aspects of the Browser change:

In Netscape Navigator, the key icon at the lower left corner of the browser's screen becomes solid, and a blue line appears at the top of the screen. If the key icon appears broken, encryption is not in use and the current session is not secure.

In Netscape Communicator, the key icon is replaced by a padlock icon, which appears locked when encryption is in use.

Internet Explorer similarly uses a padlock to show encryption but it is positioned at the lower right hand side of the browser.

To confirm that your information is encrypted, place your cursor in the frame you want to check and perform the following steps:

With a Netscape browser, right-click, select 'View Frame Info' or select 'View' | 'Page Frame Info' from the browser menu bar. For Macintosh users, Ctrl-click, select 'New Window with this Frame' OR select 'View' | 'Page Info' from the browser menu bar. With an Internet Explorer browser, right-click, select 'Properties.' For Macintosh users, Ctrl-click, select 'Open Page in New Window.'

Check the web address that you have accessed. If you are in a secure area, the address will appear as https://www. Notice the "s" in the address. This means that you have accessed a secure server.

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