3BB modem or AIS Dongle - which is safer for online banking?

[jko]

I use 3BB at Home and an AIS 3G Dongle when on holiday e.g at a resort.

 

Does anyone know which of the two is the safer of the two in terms of security, e.g. for online banking?

 

Advice appreciated.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

They are both fine if you are using your own equipment. The biggest danger is if someone gains physical access to your PC/laptop etc.

[AlphMichaels]

The connection should be reasonably secure either way.  The big question - how well banks here handle security with their online banking services.  IMO there are no online banking platforms here that are anywhere close to the standards of western banks and the levels of security we accept as safe.  Even they get hacked so there you have it.  Security comes down to what is known today.  Hackers aren't trying old ways to hack into systems..., they're working on new ways to circumvent existing security protocols.    

[KhunBENQ]

Quote

 IMO there are no online banking platforms here that are anywhere close to the standards of western banks and the levels of security we accept as safe.

From the technical point (encryption methods on the internet, two factor authorization [SMS]) this is plain wrong.

Use this site to test your western bank and some Thai banks.

 

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/

 

To the OP: name the bank.

 

Just running some tests.

If you click the links you see the cached results:

 

Bankgok Bank, "A-":

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?viaform=on&d=ibanking.bangkokbank.com

 

SCB, "A-":
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.scbeasy.com

 

Kasikorn Bank, "A+":

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=online.kasikornbankgroup.com

 

A German bank (part of Deutsche Bank), "B":

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=banking.postbank.de

Edited August 18, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[sandgroper2]

I have 100K in thai bank, the rest i have in bank in my home country and get sent more money as needed. Many reports of money going  missing from thai banks. Non refundable.

[KhunBENQ]

To come back to the OP.

To the best of knowledge neither way to connect to the bank can be decrypted by a "man in the middle", assuming that your banks server has a reasonably safe configuration.

So I recommend you run the test that I mentioned.

 

As written in post #2: always use your own equipment, make sure no one can tamper.

The biggest risk is always the infection/manipulation of your equipment/device/operating system.

Edited August 18, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[aussiebrian]

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

From the technical point (encryption methods on the internet, two factor authorization [SMS]) this is plain wrong.

Use this site to test your western bank and some Thai banks.

 

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/

 

To the OP: name the bank.

 

Just running some tests.

If you click the links you see the cached results:

 

Bankgok Bank, "A-":

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?viaform=on&d=ibanking.bangkokbank.com

 

SCB, "A-":
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.scbeasy.com

 

Kasikorn Bank, "A+":

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=online.kasikornbankgroup.com

 

A German bank (part of Deutsche Bank), "B":

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=banking.postbank.de

 

My Kasikorn Bank scores an A+ where my Australian Citibank scores a C and my Australian Commonwealth Bank of Australia a B. 

Amazing Thailand, more secure than Australian banks. I suppose at least if my Australian Banks are hacked, eventually I get my money back.

Make sure your computer is free of viruses and malaware. I believe for malaware, this is one of the best programs to use.  https://www.malwarebytes.com/

Edited August 18, 2016 by aussiebrian
Giving more information

[jko]

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

From the technical point (encryption methods on the internet, two factor authorization [SMS]) this is plain wrong.

Use this site to test your western bank and some Thai banks.

 

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/

 

To the OP: name the bank.

 

Just running some tests.

If you click the links you see the cached results:

 

Bankgok Bank, "A-":

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?viaform=on&d=ibanking.bangkokbank.com

 

SCB, "A-":
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.scbeasy.com

 

Kasikorn Bank, "A+":

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=online.kasikornbankgroup.com

 

A German bank (part of Deutsche Bank), "B":

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=banking.postbank.de

 

Banks concerned are Standard Chartered Thailand and Santander UK - both return an A- which I presume is safe enough? Interesting to see Kasikorn apparently ahead of SCB and BKK Bank on ratings.

Thanks for this useful feedback!

[KhunBENQ]

BTW: these test reports also show details about the security of the different operating systems/browsers.

An up-to-date OS and browser (app) are another important factor for secure internet connections.

 

Fortunately none of the servers allows a connection with IE6 on Windows XP

Edited August 18, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[david555]

47 minutes ago, jko said:

 

Banks concerned are Standard Chartered Thailand and Santander UK - both return an A- which I presume is safe enough? Interesting to see Kasikorn apparently ahead of SCB and BKK Bank on ratings.

Thanks for this useful feedback!

Happy to see KK more secure than Bkbank...., but in exchange rates they are also more cautious .....which is not always so favorable

Edited August 18, 2016 by david555

[lvr181]

3 hours ago, sandgroper2 said:

I have 100K in thai bank, the rest i have in bank in my home country and get sent more money as needed. Many reports of money going  missing from thai banks. Non refundable.

 

Smart move.

[lvr181]

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

BTW: these test reports also show details about the security of the different operating systems/browsers.

An up-to-date OS and browser (app) are another important factor for secure internet connections.

 

Fortunately none of the servers allows a connection with IE6 on Windows XP

 I am surprised.   Not. Being that we are 4 re-iterations of Windows, ahead now. 

[Taffyfromflint]

2 hours ago, aussiebrian said:

 

My Kasikorn Bank scores an A+ where my Australian Citibank scores a C and my Australian Commonwealth Bank of Australia a B. 

Amazing Thailand, more secure than Australian banks. I suppose at least if my Australian Banks are hacked, eventually I get my money back.

Make sure your computer is free of viruses and malaware. I believe for malaware, this is one of the best programs to use.  https://www.malwarebytes.com/

Agree with the above. I have 3BB plus a secure modem looped into the 3BB router plus VPN. Plus one time OTP from bangkok bank every time I make a transaction.

[lvr181]

5 hours ago, aussiebrian said:

 

My Kasikorn Bank scores an A+ where my Australian Citibank scores a C and my Australian Commonwealth Bank of Australia a B. 

Amazing Thailand, more secure than Australian banks. I suppose at least if my Australian Banks are hacked, eventually I get my money back.

Make sure your computer is free of viruses and malaware. I believe for malaware, this is one of the best programs to use.  https://www.malwarebytes.com/

 Nah, aussiebrian - my two banks in Aus both come up with an A. Yes, Commbank was a B. Thai Military Bank was an F! Therefore, Aus banks more secure than Amazing Thailand?

 

It is all about how you use "statistics"    An interesting exercise though.

Edited August 18, 2016 by lvr181
Additional info

[johng]

www.natwest.com       scores  C

 

The server supports only older protocols, but not the current best TLS 1.2. Grade capped to C