We have been warned many times, advised to hide the hand while dialing our secret number when withdrawing money from an ATM. However, cloning credit cards or phishing is a criminal offense that doesn’t require the cybercriminal’s physical presence to access numbering scheme, expiration date and CVC number.

The methods used by criminals include, fake emails from the alleged entity asking to change the passwords or enter the pin, or hacked POS terminals which transfer the customers banking information. Once duplicated, card can also become a commodity between criminals, dealing with them in an online black market.

Neither the traditional magnetic stripe nor the latest chip installations have managed to slow down cloning. This latest technology seemed promising: it generates a unique code for each transaction, which hinders fraud.

Nevertheless, security experts at Cambridge University demonstrated that data phones and ATMs fail when producing random numbers. Actually, it can be predicted applying the needed methods.

Banks are looking for alternatives to protect their customers from possible attacks. The latest idea is eliminate credit cards (if something creates problems, what a better solution than to wipe it away) and replace them with mobile phones. If we are already able make transactions with our smartphone, why wouldn’t we be able to withdraw money?

BMO Harris Bank, one of the subsidiaries of Bank of Montreal Canadian, has launched the biggest ATMs network that uses this new system. In order to use them you don’t need to remember any password, or cover your hand while dialing the pin with the other one.

The entity’s customers only have to take out their mobile phone, download and register in to the banking application Mobile Cash. What follows it is nothing like the traditional method, of pressing the machine’s keys or the screen.

The app asks the user the amount he wants to withdraw and only saves the banking details during the communication with the ATM, where he must select the option Mobile Cash.

Then the machine generates a QR code, like the ones airlines or concerts halls use. Simply hold the smartphone so it reads the QR code and automatically orders the withdrawal.

Those who are for this system, maintain that it will speed up transactions and it ensures safety, since the mobile tool doesn’t store any banking information on your phone permanently.

A cybercriminal has to access your mobile phone and get the password you use in the banking application to freely manage the money in your account. Although some banks believe this is not an easy process, the issue may raise a number of concerns.

Every day we discover new cases of apps that without the user’s permission access certain personal data, information stored on other features and smartphones vulnerabilities and backdoors. How can an application guarantee complete security?

Withdrawing money through our smartphone is still not available worldwide. But when the possibility arrives we will have to analyze the possible consequences it may carry. Convenience and speed in transactions are not the only things that matters.

The post How to withdraw money safely without a credit card appeared first on MediaCenter Panda Security.

If you love downloading things of the Internet, probably you know uTorrent, one of the most famous clients of BitTorrent, which allows us to download files quickly and free. In spite of the annoying banners that constantly accost users. There are many webs where you can check how to eliminate these sponsored advertisements.

Nevertheless, Bit Torrent, with 150 millions of users per month, suffered strong reviews in the last few days because of their latest update design. As one user explained in the uTorrent forums, they had installed new software, without warning him. He only realized it when he saw that his processor was consuming more resources than it should.

In this particular case, the program that sneaked into his computer was EpicScale, a mining bitcoins software. To those who don’t know how the Cryptocurrency works, mining is the process that replaces currency issuance. Users offer part of their computer resources for the community’s benefit and then obtain some cryptocoins.

After the first message, many more users protested, ensuring that EpicScale was installed on their computers without them knowing it. Bit Torrent, uTorrent’s parent company, confirmed the service’s inclusion in the last update, but assures the users were notified. “We have reviewed the issue closely and can confirm there is no silent install happening…. Most likely these users accepted the offer during install,” the company explained.

Therefore, or users are mistaken or there is a lack of transparency in the system. After revising the whole process experts at Trusted Reviews concluded that because the system design, users were misinformed. Now, they don’t dismiss that the problem may be due to a faulty installation. So if you are uTorrent user check if it has also installed EpicScale and, if you want, remove it so it stops consuming your computers resources.

Some users stated that they couldn’t uninstall the program completely with the Control Panel feature “Add/ Remove Programs” nor erasing the program’s data. One of the recommendations already spreading through the Internet is to uninstall EpicScale with the help of CCleaner.

Another option is logically stop using uTorrent. Torrent Freak has already included a list of ten possible alternatives that you can use if you want to abandon this P2P client and continue downloading “torrents” safely: qBittorrent, BitTornado, Vuze or Tribler are some of the options available to continue downloading.

What can we draw from this? It is always advisable to read carefully all the steps in the installation wizard, just in case anyone tries to sneak a service partner, to consume your resources or for other purposes.

The post Do you use uTorrent? Careful with what it installs in your computer! appeared first on MediaCenter Panda Security.