Internet banking setup
 

I know internet banking is never really safe, but since I still want to use it, I'd like it to be as safe as possible. I've read that the BSD flavours are safer than most other OS'. I've also come across apparmor and SElinux, which could improve the linux security.

I'm searching for a simple but (out of the box) secure linux setup. All I need is a browser (with javascript) to function, and an update manager. I'm only going to use it only for internet banking.

What Linux/BSD distro would be a nice base to start with. I also need a simple and secure browser.

I've already set up an OpenBSD box with firefox. They say OpenBSD is very secure as a server, but I'm not sure if it's also a good idea to use with a browser as an internet banking OS.

I'm going to use a dual boot system, so I guess the internet banking OS has to be encrypted.

Any input is appreciated! Tell me how you use internet banking, or what setup you have.

I use Windows XP SP1 and IE6... I like to live on the edge.

Seriously though... there's no reason to believe that internet banking is any less safe than any other activity, and plenty of reason for the opposite to be true... primarily that in many jurisdictions, precedents have been set confirming the liability of the bank in cases of internet fraud and identity theft.

Once your system is patched and you avoid the potential ingress of malware by not visiting dodgy sites or opening unsolicited mails, you are covering yourself as well as can be expected. If you want to be really careful, use noscript with firefox to eliminate the possibility of script based malware ingress. You could also use an internet security appliance such as ipcop to do border protection, intrusion/extrusion detection, malware scanning and so on.

As for which distro, they are all as good/bad as each other, but personally I like the Debian/Ubuntu family.

The browser is proberbly more important than the OS. I use firefox over IE as I feel more secure with it.

Just make sure you keep the OS and browser up to date and always check the url for the bank is the correct one and that it's a secure connection e.g. https://...... and has a padlock.

Most banks use various log in mechanisms where you have to enter 3 or more passwords, numbers, etc. - just don't write them down!!

I use online banking with various Linux distros---always with Firefox, unless I'm using a kiosk at a hotel or something.

The better sites will always ask extra security questions if they don't recognize the computer you are using.

I think the best protection is to protect your password, and control who has access to your computer. It's also good to have a basic firewall (e.g a router which does not allow accessing your computer from the outside.)


I don't understand this...

Uhm I'll give a little bit more information. We have a laptop in our livingroom. Everyone uses it, and my brother downloads loads of crap using torrents etc. It currently has windows xp installed. I don't feel very comfortable with it that my parents use it for internet banking.

I thought of making a dual boot system, with xp and linux (or bsd)for online banking. And using encryption in linux would prevent windows from installing malware on the linux/bsd partition. I'm a real linux newbe, so maybe it doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, it basically comes down to this: I don't want to restrict my brothers freedom, and I want to let my parents use linux/bsd for internet banking, instead of using windows that is most likely infected.

I already made a test install on my own pc with openbsd with firefox, but I'm not sure if that's a good choice.

Why don' you install linux on USB?
If you want to do bank thingies, boot from the USB.
You can even run it in memory. (puppy)

What kind of advantages does an USB stick have? I've considered a CD, because you know it's clean every time you boot, the problem is that you can't update when you're using a CD.

You can update and install programs on usb