An Online Banking Security Framework and a Cross-Cultural Comparison

Abstract

The objective of this research is to develop a security framework for online banking based on security information posted on websites of eight major banks in Australia and Malaysia and to investigate whether and why banks in culturally different countries manage security differently. Twenty-five security measures were identified and classified into three categories-physical, administrative, and technical. Security measures adopted by the major banks in Australia and Malaysia were then compared and analyzed along the cultural perspective. Results show that Australian banks provide general security information more often than Malaysian banks. Moreover, Australian banks pay attention to all categories of security measures whereas Malaysian banks lack physical security measures. Such differences are attributed to cultural factors such as individualism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance. Results help customers in Australia and Malaysia assess the security of their online banks and are useful as a benchmark to banks worldwide.

KEYWORDS:

• Security Framework
• Online banking
• Australia
• Malaysia

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nena Lim

Nena Lim is a Senior Lecturer at Curtin University of Technology. She received her Ph.D. from The University of Queensland and has an M.Sc. in Computer Information Systems from Georgia State University. Her work focuses on Internet security, computer forensics, and electronic government. She has published in Communications of the ACM, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, Electronic Journal of E-Government, and Australian Journal of Information Systems.

Paul H. P. Yeow

Paul H.P. Yeow, PhD is an Associate Professor of e-business at Monash University. He graduated from the National University of Singapore. His areas of expertise include e-business, e-marketing, information systems, human factors, ergonomics and industrial engineering. He has published more than 50 refereed journal and conference papers in top journals including Journal of Computer Information System, Journal of Urban Technology and Applied Ergonomics. He is in the editorial board of these journals.

Yee Yen Yuen

Yee Yen Yuen is a PhD student and a part-time research officer in Multimedia University, Malaysia. He graduated from the Multimedia University Malaysia with Bachelor of Information Technology and Master of Philosophy. Over the past 5 years, he participated in several knowledge management, mobile phone ergonomics, learning strategies, global warming and Internet banking research projects. He has published several papers journal and conference papers in relation to mobile phone satisfaction and Internet banking.