Assessing the Vulnerabilities of Online Digital Mobile Banking Applications in Nigeria

Grace Bunmi Akintola¹

1. Dept. of Cyber Security, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Nigeria.

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.10 , Issue.7 , pp.29-45, Jul-2024

Online published on Jul 31, 2024

Copyright © Grace Bunmi Akintola . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

View this paper at   Google Scholar | DPI Digital Library

XML View     PDF Download

How to Cite this Paper

110 Views    114 Downloads    27 Downloads

Abstract :
In this digitalized era, people prefer conducting their banking transactions and services remotely, anywhere, any day, and anytime without visiting their local banks physically. This has caused a great increase in the utilization of mobile devices by users such as Android phones on which mobile bank applications are being installed to carry out financial transactions. Despite the numerous benefits of using various mobile banking applications, there are huge issues concerning security and privacy aspects that can be leveraged by malicious hackers such as task hijacking which involves taking over the legitimate user’s activity to perform further cyber attacks, thereby, causing harm (such as Denial of Service attacks) to the users. Therefore, this paper focuses on assessing the vulnerabilities of twelve (12) selected Nigerian digital banks’ mobile applications installed on an Android mobile device using the Ostorlab which is a mobile security testing tool. The selected digital banks’ mobile apps include Kuda, moniepoint, fundall, carbon, sparkle, vbank, palmpay, opay, mintyn, eyowo, ALAT and Fairmoney banks. A total number of 32 vulnerabilities were discovered generally while sixteen (16) vulnerabilities were most commonly found across all the mobile applications. Vbank was discovered to have the maximum number of vulnerabilities with 68.75% while Fundall bank had the least vulnerabilities with 46.88%.

Key-Words / Index Term :
banking, mobile bank application, security, privacy, vulnerabilities, digital banks, Ostorlab

References :
[1] M. Chauhan, G. Barapatr, A. Ghatge, R. Sabale, and P. S., "E – Authentication for Secure Net Banking," International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science and Engineering, Vol.10, Issue.1, pp.15-18, 2022.
[2] L. Garba, S. Ningi and A. Ahmed, "Impact of Website Design and Customer Technology Adoption on Customers Loyalty in the Nigerian Banking Industry," World Academic Journal of Management, Vol.11, Issue.4, pp.42-47, 2023.
[3] L. Wu, D. Yu, and Y. Lv, "Digital banking and deposit: Substitution effect of mobile applications on web services," Finance Research Letters, Vol.56, Issue.104138, pp.1-5, 2023.
[4] O. C. Ofodile, O. Odeyemi, C. C. Okoye, W. A. A. T. Oyewole, O. B. Adeoye and Y. J. Ololade, "DIGITAL BANKING REGULATIONS: A COMPARATIVE," Finance & Accounting Research Journal, Vol.6, Issue.3, pp.346-371, 2024.
[5] N. Koont, "The Digital Banking Revolution: Effects on Competition and Stability," SSRN, Vol.1, Issue.1, pp.1-123, 2023.
[6] S. P. Vilhena and R. D. Navas, "21THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON DIGITAL BANKING," Journal of Entrepreneurial Researchers, Vol.1, pp.21-42, 2023.
[7] S. Khan, R. Soni and K. J. Somaiya, "A study on Adoption of Digital Banking Services using Structured Equation Model," Positif Journal, Vol.22, Issue.11, pp.126-148, 2022.
[8] V. K. Sindhi, "Digital Banking in India: A Literature Review," INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD, Vol.9, Issue.3, pp.103-106, 2023.
[9] L. A. Bueno, T. F. A. C. Sigahi and R. Anholon, "Digital Banks in Brazil: Struggling to Reach the Breakeven Point or a New Evolution Wave?," FinTech , Vol.2, Issue.3, pp.374-387, 2023.
[10] E. M. Sasea and M. S. Sakmaf, "DIGITAL BANK LEGAL CHALLENGES: SECURITY PROTECTION AND LEAKAGE OF CUSTOMER PERSONAL DATA," Awang Long Law Review, Vol.6, Issue.1, pp.245-250, 2023.
[11] O. Alaba, O. Abass and E. Igwe, "Mobile Learning via Mobile Devices in Nigeria Higher Education: Usage Analysis Based on Utaut Model," The Journal of the Southern Association for Information Systems, Vol.9, Issue.1, pp.64-80, 2022.
[12] S. Sale, J. Godbole and V. Humbe, "New Emerging Trend in Payment System Special Reference to Electronic," World Academic Journal of Management, Vol.11, Issue.1, pp.01-04, 2023.
[13] M. Junker, M. Bo¨hm and H. Krcmar, "Advantages and disadvantages of mobile applications for workplace health promotion: A scoping review," PLOS ONE, Vol.19, Issue.1, pp.1-22, 2024.
[14] P. Falade and G. Ogundele, "Vulnerability Analysis of Digital Banks’ Mobile Applications," NDA Journal of Military Science and Disciplinary Studies, Vol.1, Issue.1, pp.44-55, 2022.
[15] S. W. Asher, S. Jan, G. Tsaramirsis, F. Q. Khan, A. Khalil and M. Obaidullah, "Reverse Engineering of Mobile Banking Applications," Computer Systems Science & Engineering, Vol.38, Issue.3, pp.266-278, 2021.
[16] B. S. OKATAN and H. ÇAM, "Analysis of customer reviews for digital banking applications with text mining," Gümü?hane University Journal of Science, Vol.14, Issue.1, pp.45-50, 2023.
[17] B. S. Omotosho, "Analysing User Experience of Mobile Banking Applications in Nigeria: A Text Mining Approach," CBN Journal of Applied Statistics, Vol.12, Issue.1, pp.77-108, 2021.
[18] J. Zhu and M. Wang, "Analyzing the Effect of People Utilizing Mobile Technology to Make Banking Services More Accessible," Frontiers in Public Health, Vol.10, pp.1-9, 2022.
[19] S. Alhejji, A. Albesher, H. Wahsheh and A. Albarrak, "Evaluating and Comparing the Usability of Mobile Banking Applications in Saudi Arabia," Information, Vol.13, Issue.12, pp.1-14, 2022.
[20] E. K. Ghani, M. M. Ali, M. N. R. Musa and A. A. Omonov, "The Effect of Perceived Usefulness, Reliability, and COVID-19 Pandemic on Digital Banking Effectiveness: Analysis Using Technology Acceptance Model," Sustainability, Vol.14, Issue.18, pp.1-16, 2022.
[21] G. N. Wainaina, D. K. Kiyeng and N. Masese, "Enhancing Security Measures for Mobile Banking Applications: A Comprehensive Analysis of Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Countermeasures in Kenya Banking Industry," International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research, Vol.12, Issue.8, pp.99-112, 2023.
[22] M. A. Hassan, Z. Shukur and M. Mohd, "A Penetration Testing on Malaysia Popular e-Wallets and m-Banking Apps," International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol.13, Issue.5, pp.692-703, 2022.
[23] D. O. Orucho, F. M. Awuor, C. Ratemo, and C. Oduor, "Security threats affecting user-data on transit in mobile banking applications: A review," International Journal of Computer Engineering Research, Vol.9, Issue.1, pp.1-11, 2023.
[24] S. A. Al-Delayel, "Security Analysis of Mobile Banking Application in Qatar," arXiv preprint arXiv:2202, pp.1-7, 2022.
[25] A. A. Ruth, O. F. Bukie and A. A. Ariyo, "Information Systems Research Methodologies: A Systematic Review on Cloud Adoption, Usage and Performance," International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science and Engineering, Vol.11, Issue.5, pp.1-15, 2023.
[26] S. Mazouzi, "Known Exploitable Vulnerabilities: Catching them all," 24 May 2024. [Online]. Accessed 24 May 2024.
[27] T. Abiola, "10 Best Digital Banks in Nigeria: Usability, Features, Pros and Cons," 08 August 2023. [Online]. Accessed 08 August 2023.
[28] Editorial, "Top digital banks in Nigeria (2024)," 09 April 2024. [Online]. Accessed 09 April 2023.
[29] U. Anaga, "UNVEILING THE BEST ONLINE BANKS IN NIGERIA 2024," 01 January 2024. [Online]. Accessed 01 January 2024.
[30] Business, "Reviving Savings Culture through Digital Banking," 09 April 2024. [Online]. Accessed 09 April 2024.
[31] O. Willemin, "Best Digital Banks in Nigeria in 2022: Fees, Usability, Features, and More," 09 April 2024. [Online]. Accessed 09 April 2024.
[32] Top5Editor, "Top 5 Best Virtual Banks in Nigeria (2024): Banking Made Seamless and Secure," 09 April 2024. [Online]. Accessed 09 April 2024.
[33] S. Akintaro, "Here are 10 digital banks licensed by the CBN to operate as microfinance banks in Nigeria," 09 April 2024. [Online]. Accessed 09 April 2024.
[34] J. Okwise, "Top 10 Best Online Banking Apps in Nigeria (Mobile App 2023)," 17 July 2023. [Online]. Accessed 09 April 2024.
[35] D. F. Priambodo, G. S. Ajie, H. A. Rahman, A. C. F. Nugraha, A. Rachmawati and M. R. Avianti, "Mobile Health Application Security Assessment Based on OWASP Top 10 Mobile Vulnerabilities," in 2022 International Conference on Information Technology Systems and Innovation (ICITSI), Bandung, Indonesia, 2022.