TWC: Small: Evaluating and Improving Security in Emerging Branchless Banking Systems

无分行银行业务为发展中国家和发达国家的无银行业务者带来了急需的金融服务。利用无处不在的蜂窝网络，这些服务现在被部署为智能手机应用程序，提供电子支付基础设施，而信用卡等替代品通常不存在。在许多这样的国家，超过30%的GDP现在可以归因于无分行银行应用程序，其中许多应用程序现在每月执行的交易比包括PayPal在内的传统支付处理器更多。虽然这些应用程序被广泛宣传为一种更安全的现金选择，但它们通常不受金融部门适用的传统法规的约束，因此人们对这种说法的真实性产生了怀疑。因此，人们对这场金融服务革命的技术安全知之甚少，更不用说它将如何与发达国家的金融基础设施相互作用了。该项目正在对无分行银行应用程序及其新兴的Web界面进行首次深入的安全分析。该项目正在评估这类系统的安全现状，并开发具有更强安全特性的金融应用程序。

Branchless banking brings much-needed financial services to the unbanked in both the developing and developed worlds. Leveraging ubiquitous cellular networks, these services are now being deployed as smart phone apps, providing an electronic payment infrastructure where alternatives such as credit cards generally do not exist. Over 30% of the GDP in many such nations can now be attributed to branchless banking applications, many of which now perform more transactions per month than traditional payment processors including PayPal. Although widely marketed as a more secure option to cash, these applications are generally not subject to the traditional regulations applied in the financial sector, leaving doubt as to the veracity of such claims. Accordingly, very little is known about the technical security of this revolution in financial services, let alone how it will interact with the financial infrastructure of the developed world. This project is conducting the first in-depth security analysis of branchless banking applications and their emerging web interfaces. The project is evaluating the current state of security in such systems and developing financial applications with stronger security characteristics.