On-line banking security is increasingly the subject of news reports of various types of cybercrime, usually involving electronic identity theft and the illegal transfer or diversion of funds from the victim’s bank account. As the problem grows in size, legal challenges are increasingly attempting to hold banks liable for losses from such crimes. Banks are, of course, very reluctant to accept such liabilities and are battling the problem with both legal and technological strategies.

Typically, banks are offering “two-factor authentication” as a de facto industry standard for on-line banking security. The following video, provided by ZD Net, clearly explains what two-factor security is and how it works:

The problem with two-factor security is that hackers have now discovered how to defeat it in real-time. The following article from the MIT Technology Review details an actual case where a construction company lost almost half a million dollars to such an attack:

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/23488/?a=f

The authentication of a customer’s electronic identity and the correct application of the customer’s authority limits are the very reasons for on-line banking security. If either objective is not reached, the system has failed and the results can be disastrous.

InterComputer’s fully-insured InterOperating System (IOS) begins with a three-factor approach adding something the user is (a biometric measurement) in addition to something he knows and something he has. This approach, combined with many other design, architectural and procedural factors, combine to create an electronic “trusted path” and result in InterComputer’s IOS being the only underwritten electronic transaction system commercially available today.

To learn more about InterComputer’s Trusted Banking solution, click here.