Thursday, July 14, 2005
Security Is Up A Notch
The banking industry has been hit hard this year by stories of compromised customer data. Bank of America has the largest share of online banking customers and has started taking security measures up a notch.
Bank of America has joined with SiteKey to provide a new online security procedure. It was initiated in Tennessee last month. It is being launched in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. this week, and should be available to customers nationally by the fall.
The system to be used was developed by PassMark Security from Redwood City, CA. To start, a customer has a thousand graphic images to choose from and can select any one of them. Next, they select a challenge question, such as the year and model of their first car. Then, they still have a customer ID and password to access their account.
When a customer logs on to internet banking, they can click on the SiteKey button and view the image they first selected. If they don't see that image, the site they're at is not the authentic banking site and is likely a spoofed site, phishing for their information. This is similar to a safe deposit box where each part has a key. If the keys don't match, there is a problem.
Wachovia is planning to enhance its security options later in the year as well. They are exploring the use of token cards for two-factor authentication. These cards are battery operated and display a different, randomly generated number every minute. This number needs to be entered in addition to a user name and password to gain access to the system.
The banking industry has been hit hard this year by stories of compromised customer data. Bank of America has the largest share of online banking customers and has started taking security measures up a notch.
Bank of America has joined with SiteKey to provide a new online security procedure. It was initiated in Tennessee last month. It is being launched in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. this week, and should be available to customers nationally by the fall.
The system to be used was developed by PassMark Security from Redwood City, CA. To start, a customer has a thousand graphic images to choose from and can select any one of them. Next, they select a challenge question, such as the year and model of their first car. Then, they still have a customer ID and password to access their account.
When a customer logs on to internet banking, they can click on the SiteKey button and view the image they first selected. If they don't see that image, the site they're at is not the authentic banking site and is likely a spoofed site, phishing for their information. This is similar to a safe deposit box where each part has a key. If the keys don't match, there is a problem.
Wachovia is planning to enhance its security options later in the year as well. They are exploring the use of token cards for two-factor authentication. These cards are battery operated and display a different, randomly generated number every minute. This number needs to be entered in addition to a user name and password to gain access to the system.
Comments:
Post a Comment
