What you can do yourself for your security

How to protect yourself in online banking?

Keep PIN and TAN secret

Check the Internet-Site

Important information about your PC

Links from the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI)

Keep PIN and TAN secret

• Do not disclose your PIN code to anyone. No employee of Isbank AG will ever ask you for your PIN code or ask you to provide this number or other personal data such as name, address and account number by e-mail.

• In the recent past, there has been a spate of scams in which trustworthy companies appear as the supposed senders of e-mails and recipients are asked to click on a link provided in the mail to a special website and log in there. Generally, these emails appear highly plausible and the websites in question look confusingly similar to the real ones. This is how fraudsters obtain your access data ("phishing" or "password fishing"). Therefore, never click on links in e-mails that supposedly lead directly to Isbank AG login pages.

• If possible, do not log into online banking via a computer you do not know (e.g. in an Internet café).

• Change your PIN code at regular intervals using combinations of upper and lower case letters and numbers. Do not use any combinations that have a private reference, such as names, date of birth, telephone number, postcodes or similar. Do not carry out any online transactions if you suspect that your PC has been infected by a Trojan horse or a virus.

• Always use the "Customer log-out" button to exit online banking. Always delete the cache after leaving online banking, unless you are the only one working on your computer.

• Do not save your PIN code or TANs on the computer.

• If you have reason to believe that your PIN code and/or TANs are no longer confidential, please deactivate your access immediately and inform Isbank AG's technical support.

• If you intend not to use online banking for a certain period of time, you can have online access deactivated as an additional protective measure against unauthorised use.

Check the Internet-Site

Always check that you are connected to the correct Internet address.

The address must begin with the protocol https - and not http - and the locked "lock symbol" appears in the status bar at the bottom of the browser. Never enter confidential data (especially your PIN code and password) without first checking the address and protocol!

Important information about your PC

All data on your computer is at risk of being destroyed by computer viruses or damaged by so-called Trojan horses. Trojans are programmes whose ostensible purpose (e.g. screen saver) conceals harmful functions that spy out confidential data for illegal purposes. In most cases, the "infection" of the hard disk by these programmes occurs through e-mails or during file downloads.

• Only install programmes whose origin you trust. Do not install programmes that are sent to you unsolicited.

• Keep yourself informed about the availability of security updates for your operating system and browser software.

• Only use the Internet on a user account that does not have administrator rights. Explanations on how to set up such an account can be found in the information documents for your operating system.

• Install virus protection software (virus scanner) that also provides protection against Trojans. Run regular virus and Trojan tests on all data stored on the computer.

• A personal firewall - a programme installed on the PC to monitor all incoming and outgoing connections - may provide additional protection. However, installing and setting up firewalls is not an easy task and generally requires a certain level of expertise.

Links from the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI)

• BSI - Federal Office for Information Security

• BSI - Security advice (bund.de)

• BSI - Digital consumer protection - safe use of information technology (bund.de)