In future however please refrain from belittling other commentators on the TameBay site even if you have an opposing opinion.

That’s probably because you WOULDN’T HAVE TO use it while actually BIDDING, you cretinous moron…

Jesus. Are people this stupid allowed out into society?

Yes, MitM attacks, as well as targeted trojans, are presumtively effective attacks, but there are also new defenses that can block them.

RSA seems to waiting for the IETF to publish its new cryptographically secure protocol, Protected One-Time Passwords (POTP)– although it was approved by the IETF’s Engineering Board in October, and is already embedded in RSA products and those of several leading switch manufacturers — but you can review its mechanics on the RSA Labs’ website, where it is listed as one of RSA’s “One Time Password Specifications” (OTPS).

Where RSA find more security, VeriSign (and eBay, PayPal, etc.) will surely follow.

POTP blocks MitM attacks with a local desktop agent that interacts with the server to establish a crypto secret, which is never transmitted, but can then be used to secure the session and (as well) provide a key for additional crypto functions.

Many financial institutions today often buttress strong (2FA) authentication with a back office transaction monitor which collects and tracks, in real time, a slew of data points about the consumer, his transaction, and the device he typically uses for transactions. The monitor typically fires off an alert or alarm if a new incoming call varies significantly from the consumer’s past habits and practice so the site’s adaptive authentication processes can demand more surety proofs.

There will doubtless be new attacks developed by the bad guys as these defenses fall into place, but that will only spur the vendors and eCommerce sites to grab their suspenders and move new defenses into place. It is a historically endless cycle, hopefully abbreviated as law enforcement gets its act together and begins to nail and jail more of the predators. It is also worth noting that groups of low-level crooks fall by the wayside with each new defense barrier; others are forced to rely on other people’s attack code which they don’t fully understand — which raises their vulnerability to the Lawmen.