My Bank insists I install Antivirus

Tell your bank to stuff it and find a new bank.

Romesrjp wrote:

I have just acquired a MacBook Air and my Bank (HSBC) insists that I install an Antivirus program (Rapport) otherwise it states it will not be liable for for any unauthorised transactions, should I install or is my Mac safe without it?

It's not anti-virus software.

http://www.trusteer.com/Products/trusteer-rapport-pc-and-mac-security

The main thing it does is alert you if previously used user IDs and or passwords are about to be sent to a website that they have not been sent to in the past.

Install it.

Rapport for Online Banking actually does claim that it "Prevents malware infection, removes existing malware," in addition to other things, such as attempting to prevent many kinds of phishing attacks. However, I have never heard of it before now, so I don't know how well it does this job. Anti-virus software on a Mac is really not necessary at this time (see my Mac Malware Guide). The "man-in-the-browser" attacks that Rapport protects against rely on malware that does not currently exist for the Mac. The "man-in-the-middle" attacks can depend on malware or can be caused by hacking of network resources. It's far more likely for small ISP's domain name servers to be hacked, so you can avoid most of those attacks by using a DNS server like OpenDNS.

In all, I would tend to agree with peiper1. It sounds like your bank is using fairly draconian measures to ensure that they are not responsible for any fraud that might result from your use of their online banking. I would be quite nervous about using a bank that had that attitude. I would recommend that you seek out a bank that will protect you against online fraud, rather than trying to weasel out of their responsibility.

FWIW ... my bank makes no such claims about my online banking. Not that I would recommend them above any other bank particularly, but just to say that not all do that.

Hi Thomas,

Here you can read a bit about our protection mechanisms:

http://www.trusteer.com/support/how-exactly-does-rapport-protect-me

for even more detailed information you can enter- https://www.trusteer.com/support/user-guide/3.5.1207/index.htm#375.htm

In general- Rapports protects you from entering malicious sites (phishing and pharming), blocking screen capturing tools or keyloggers from "recording" your keystrokes when you login to secured websites, alerts when a malware is found and removing it (or instructs you how to do so in some cases).

Hope this helps to clarify a bit what we do. Recently we released an update for Firefox 18 (for Mac as well) and in general we always try to be up to date with different browsers and OS'.

If someone has technical problems or is curious about Rapport we would be happy to assist- we operate a 24/7 support center you can access here: http://www.trusteer.com/support/report-problem

Alex Man,

Trusteer Technical Support

Are you in the UK?

I am in the UK and have NatWest and it's advising me to do the same.

I think it's probably a requirement for UK banks or something, you know, how the government has to legislate every aspect of life, like how far away from the bin the sink has to be, etc...

Right, Find a NEW BANK.

Or if that isn't in the cards Stop doing Online banking and Walk in the branch closest to you and waste their time with all your transactions. And let them know Why.

What software is installed on YOUR computer is None of your Banks business.

^

The thing is, if he IS in the UK, theres probably nothing he can do. Our laws are ****** up and the recent governments are making a joke of our country - it's probably just a requirement of the bank.

I mean, this is a country where a trespasser won compensation for hurting themselves on a barbed wire fence.

Hi all,

We do work with many UK banks, but it's not something they MUST do legaly, they choose us as extra protection.

Wheter or not you have to use Rapport to login is the banks' decision (some just recommend it). You can try to stop getting notifications about Rapport via these instructions: http://www.trusteer.com/support/i-keep-getting-offered-download-rapport

Hope this helps!

Alex,

Trusteer Technical Support