How secure is online banking with Windows 7 with MSE installed?

[debodun]

The bank says their Web page is encrypted. I'm not concerned as much with their security and I am with that of my old computer. Should I worry?

 

[Alejandro85]

You're missing THE key question: Secure against what?

I'm not concerned as much with their security

Their security is the main problem there, if any. Unfortunately, there is little you can do to assess their security from your computer, hewever some basic checks can get you a long way. A basic is that they use a proper HTTPS certificate, for example. Check their online reputation and if they've suffered some hack.

The bank says their Web page is encrypted.

Most likely they want to emphatize that they use HTTPS. It's 2023, HTTPS it's the bare minimum requirement for a website to be online, specially for a bank, so I guess there is nothing special here.

and I am with that of my old computer. Should I worry?

Old doesn't means more insecure, as long as you do the usual hygiene of having a clean computer and preferably an up to date browser. And most important, don't ignore certificate warnings. With a few basic precautions, your computer has very little influence on the overall security.

 

[debodun]

Secure against what? - Hackers, data miners, identity theives, etc.

 

[file3456]

Like mentioned, it's mostly on you and your security hygiene. There are many things you can do on your end to help prevent getting "hacked" or whatever, but it may be cumbersome to you. I actually don't believe in today's anti-virus software, but for those that are not very computer savvy it's something you probably want to use. MSE I hear may not be supported in Windows 7 anymore. And with that perhaps modern day anti-virus software as well. There will come a time where you simply can't use Windows 7 anymore and must upgrade. Lets put it this way. Can you use Windows 98se today and surf the web unimpeded or use most modern day software? No, you can't.

I currently use something called Tiny10 which is a striped down version of Windows 10 and makes it usable without all the utter crap. But! you need an LTSC license key. Absent of that you can strip down Windows 11 with this tool and perhaps make Windows 11 livable.