Security Issues in Mobile Banking

[MOHESOWA BYAS <byasmohesowa () sbm intnet mu>]

Hi,

There is one ISP offering SMS Based Banking, whereby customers who already
have an Internet Banking account can send an sms based query, and get their
balance as an sms reply

User sends his user name and password to the service provider as an SMS, the
ISP processes the request by running a script which initiates an "https"
session with the Bank's Internet Banking Server, and does a balance inquiry
using the username and password.

If the credentials supplied are valid, then the balance info is sent back to
the user as an sms.

UserName & password is not encrypted on the ISP server which sends the
script, however they are replaced by **** in the log files

We have some doubts as listed below:
1. Is mobile banking a proven safe technology ?
2. Is this a common type of service or is it completely new? 
3. Are there any known security incidents using this service?
4. What features should we consider to make a risk assessment of the service
being proposed?
5. Any other items that must be considered?

Thanks for your feedback!
Regards



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