Barclays boasts of e-banking security bonus

Barclays Bank is offering its customers free online security software in a bid to lessen the amount of risk they face when banking online.

The firm announced today that all of its users, those that are signed up to internet banking, will be treated to a subscription to Kaspersky Lab's antivirus and security software, as long as they download it from the Barclay's web site.

Announcing the offer Sean Gilchrist, director of digital banking at Barclays, said, "For the last two years we have offered customers free anti-virus software, but as internet fraudsters become more sophisticated it is important that customers protect their computers from all threats and not just viruses."

The bank has signed a two year deal with the security firm, and will let users download multiple copies so that the software can be run on a number of machines in the home.