Summary Box: Study sees online banking flaws

WIDESPREAD DANGERS: University of Michigan researchers found such design flaws in 76 percent of the 214 U.S. financial institution Web sites they studied. Researchers aren't detailing which banks had problems.

THE FINDINGS: Researchers found that many banks silently redirect users to third-party sites, plop "secure login" boxes on insecure Web pages, and improperly use Social Security numbers or e-mail addresses--which an outsider can figure out--as default user names.