How can internet transactions be better protected?

This article dealt with how online banking and how measures are being taken to prevent e-crimes. The UK House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has suggested that an e-crime law enforcement task force be assembled to help combat the problem as the security levels that are in place now do not seem to prevent criminals. Online banking has recently been strengthened with the introduction of a physical card as well as information (Pin number) so that it makes the act of accessing an account harder for a thief while insuring the customer’s financial security. Visa and Mastercard have placed an extra password to step-up security for the credit card holders, but even this is not infallible as thieves have demonstrated. Protection needs to be given to a vast number of online websites that deal with monetary transactions and not just a select few. As we are only in the beginning of an era of online banking, protection is called for immediately before it gets out of hand. It has been said that although it will be expensive, banks owe it to their customers to protect customers’ online investments just as they would offline and by doing so, would promote their image as those who can guard clients from online theft, ultimately yielding more business.
I believe that banks should take the initiative to protect their customers online as they would offline, especially if they encourage online banking; it would be well worth their investment. Even though measures are taken to prevent e-crimes, criminals find ways to surpass those “protection” features, so it is a good thing that the UK has suggested a taskforce to combat this global crime and other countries should follow their example as the internet covers most of the planet and is not the single responsibility of one nation.
Original article on google news by Steve Brunswick
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/51e5136a-8a2d-11dd-a76a-0000779fd18c.html