Organisations that provide online applications understand online risks and have security measures in place, but small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and home users are often left to fend for themselves, says John Mc Loughlin, MD of J2 Software.
Information security should be a concern for all companies or individuals doing financial transactions online, says Mc Loughlin. He recommends SMEs and home users consider using public key infrastructure (PKI) as a first line of defence.
Mc Loughlin says PKI provides a trusted identity and allows users to encrypt and decrypt information by creating digital signatures, ensuring only the intended recipients can read documents.
"Once the Internet is used to communicate private or confidential information, it can be captured by fraudsters or data thieves," he says.
Many organisations use layered security, which asks for different types of authentication like passwords, account numbers and agreed questions, which can be used to make online transactions more secure.
"However, PKI is better suited for SMEs because it is less time consuming and offers greater ease-of-use, as well as the ability to work across multiple applications," he says.
According to Mc Loughlin, if users find security measures time-consuming, they are likely to find ways to go around them.
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