Safe Computing Practices

While we take strong measures to ensure the security of your financial transactions and the confidentiality of your information, it is extremely important that you also take precautions to ensure that your information remains safe and secure. We advise customers to read about these topics and follow the recommended safe computing practices.

Use caution before answering online and email requests for your personal information

Belize Bank will never present you with unexpected webpages or send you unsolicited emails asking for your confidential information, such as your password, PIN, Access Code, credit card, account number, security questions, etc. We will never ask you to validate or restore your account access through unsolicited email. Do not respond to unsolicited emails or websites that request personal information

Protect your Online Banking Password

• Your Online Banking password is confidential and must never be shared with any outside person or company, including:
  • Account aggregation services that consolidate and display all of your financial information in one place.
  • Software that records your password so that you don’t need to enter it the next time you access a website.
  • Services that collect your card number and password, or any other confidential information, to perform transactions on your behalf or to collect payment from you.
  • Any other agreements you may make or services you accept which include your consent to having your Internet activity monitored.
• Pick a password that is difficult to guess by using a combination of letters and numbers (nothing obvious). In fact, if you’re still using a numeric password, change it now.  Memorize your password and keep it secret. If you suspect your password has been compromised, please contact us immediately.  Belize Bank will never ask you to set up or confirm your questions or answers by telephone, fax or email.
• Never send confidential information, such as account numbers of any type, Credit Card, password, PIN, etc. via email.
• Avoid using software that records your passwords so that you don’t need to enter them the next time you access a website from the same computer. This type of software could give other users of your computer access to your accounts.
• Avoid accidentally agreeing to have your Internet activity monitored by other parties by carefully reading the terms of any software you download and free services you accept online before you download them.
• Do not use public computers (e.g., Internet cafés or libraries) to access Online Banking because they could have viruses or malicious programs that record every keystroke, or capture usernames and passwords.

• Always log off when you’ve finished your Online Banking session.
• Clear your browser’s cache after each Online Banking session. Each time you access the Internet, your browser automatically saves a copy of the web pages you’ve visited. Diligently clearing your browser’s cache after each session is an important step in safeguarding your account information.
• Keep your Cards in sight at all times during transactions and never lend your card to anyone.
• Review your account statements and/or online account transaction details promptly and report any discrepancies immediately. With Online Banking, you can review your up-to-date account transactions and therefore identify any discrepancies immediately. Contact numbers can be found in your statements.

Whenever you use your personal computer and the Internet, there is a potential risk of contracting a computer virus or the possibility of infiltration by intrusion software commonly known as “Trojan Horses”. Computer viruses can modify programs, delete files and erase the contents of hard drives. “Trojan Horses” can have similar effects and may be able to capture keystrokes, including passwords or other secret information. Spyware and other deceptive software can also conduct certain activities on your computer without your knowledge or consent.

The potential consequences of any of these threats could include damage to your personal computer, compromise of your secret information and the inability to use Online Banking.

There are additional vulnerabilities associated with having a computer directly connected to the Internet for an extended period of time. This applies to all users but it is extremely important for users with cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet access. These methods of connection do not require ‘dialing’ into the Internet and thus are sometimes described as ‘always on’ connections. Unfortunately, as long as the computer remains ‘on’ and connected to the Internet, malicious parties have a continuous window of opportunity for attacks on the user’s personal computer.

If you use a cable modem or DSL connection for Internet access, you can limit this security risk by disconnecting from the Internet when your session is complete, or by turning off the cable or DSL modem. However, if you want to continue to take advantage of the ‘always on’ feature of cable and DSL connections or if you run extended dial-up sessions on the Internet, we recommend the following security measures be taken:

• Disable File Sharing on Your Personal Computer
• Install a Personal Firewall
• Get Computer Security Updates

If you have a wireless network, there are additional measures that should be taken to protect your Internet connection:

• Use encryption– Enable the highest level of encryption available for your router; newer wireless routers typically use Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), and older versions use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). This will encrypt all data transferred between your personal computer and wireless router. In addition, devices without your encryption key cannot connect to your wireless router.
• Change your default password– All wireless routers are given a default administrator password by their manufacturers, so make sure to change this password to prevent unauthorized access to your wireless router.
• Change SSID (Service Set Identifier)– The SSID is the name of your wireless network. In order for a computer to connect to your wireless network, the SSID must be known. You should change the manufacturer’s default SSID name to a unique name that will not be easily guessed and has no direct connection to you or where you are located (e.g. don’t use your last name or street address).
• Switch off SSID broadcasting– You can further secure your network by disabling SSID broadcasting, which will hide your network from outsiders. It would be very difficult for an outsider to access your network once you have changed your SSID and turned off broadcasting, as they would have to start guessing the name of your network to access it.

Encryption is the process of protecting information as it moves from one computer to another so that it is unreadable to everyone except the receiver. The stronger the level of encryption used by your web browser, the more difficult it is for unauthorized parties to break the encryption and decipher the message in transit.

It is critical to always have your browser updated.