Advancement in technology comes with several opportunities and issues. Organizations are able to move their businesses online to reach a greater number of potential customers. Security and privacy in cyberspace are posing a threat to organizations due to establishment of communication links. These connections are based on trust relationships, where resources are permitted to be accessed from one party or the other, it is critical to implement the necessary security measures such that, these established communication links will not be used as a conduit for exploitation. This paper proposes the use of cryptography (IPsec) and its proper implementation to secure virtual communication links over the internet. The objective is to illustrate effective implementation of IPsec to secure L2L (LAN-to-LAN) or S2S (Site-to-Site) communication between systems hosted at two different organizations to promote security. We answer these questions: Is IPsec able to secure traffic between two endpoints over the internet? Is it possible to send traffic not permitted to go through the VPN to reach systems at either side of the VPN tunnel? Proposed model encrypts the entire communication link and any data sent through it. It further guarantees only the nodes permitted to exchange information can communicate over such links.

Crimes committed via the internet and other electronic media are a growing threat and an important subject to most organizations. This is because most organizations rely on the internet to provide services to customers. Thus, the use of the inter-networked system of communication in organizations such as the banks poses challenges to both customers and organizations on daily basis. This study analyses cybercrime activities and their effects on Financial Institutions; a case study of Mumuadu Rural Bank Limited, Osino in the Fanteakwa District - Eastern Region. The study was guided by three objectives and used a mixed-method (both qualitative and quantitative) approach in data collection. The total estimated sample size was 30 staff out of a population of thirty – two (32). A questionnaire was used to obtain information from 29 respondents who were randomly selected from the population while an interview was used to solicit further details from the bank’s General Manager who was purposively selected. The findings revealed that cybercrime and information security breaches have reached an alarming proportion with negative consequences on financial Industries. As a result, the bank has different insurance accounts set aside to protect customers against losses that may arise from cybercrime attacks or other related losses that may affect customers. It also emerged that young people in the district mostly indulge in cybercrime activities with the motive of living a luxurious life due to economic hardship attributed to unemployment, and lack of strong policies or legislation. Furthermore, the study also recorded a high rate of respondents who cited a loss of customer confidence due to cybercrime which has led to the loss of lives of customers and a reduction of revenue target of the bank as part of the effects of cybercrime on the bank. Additionally, the research identified some knowledge gaps and consequently recommended that cyber insurance policies be available and also be strengthened to help financial institutions compensate those who may be victims of a cybercrime attack. Furthermore, the paper suggests that organizations be constantly updated by the Security Agencies on the emerging techniques that are deployed by cybercriminals.

Using passwords, pin-codes, facial recognition, voice recognition, and the OTP (One Time Password) two-way verification protocol, work fine but are subject to easy access due to human errors. Thus, it is very easy for a hacker to gain access to systems using social engineering techniques. According to SANs, the weakest vulnerability in every system is the end user. We propose a system to patch and reduce the human errors that make these user authentication and verification systems vulnerable. A proposed security API system, verifies user identity remotely and instantaneously using artificial intelligence and facial recognition authentication process where a real-time image and video feed of the user’s face will be matched by comparing the records of the user in a software’s database (three-way verification). This is different from the usual facial recognition system as it uses real-time facial gestures by using different levels of security during user authentication and verification. The standard password authentication is an auxiliary to this new type of authentication, where the two-factor authentication is taken into consideration. The real-time face capture does not take pictures but rather records the facial gestures of the end-user. This is done to prevent hackers from using images to trick the system into thinking the authentication is satisfied. According to research, it is realized that people give out their passwords and pin-codes to others to perform transactions on their behalf. For example, in the case of banking, a user can give out his or her banking credentials to his or her friend to make a withdrawal on his or her behalf. In this scenario, there is no way the banking system will be able to identify the person making the withdrawal since it assumes it is the actual customer due to a successful login. The propose system eliminates these flaws in existing authentication systems by adding a visual authentication.