Bank tech-trends News
 

January 15 - January 19, 2007

• Hardware News
• Software Updates
• ATMs/Kiosks
• Biometric Digest Highlights
• Wireless World
• Security Section
• Leaders Roundtable
• Technology and Marketing
• Online Banking/E-Commerce/
  Website Design
• Internet Access
• Call Centers

Hardware News

The five largest manufacturers of hard disk drives will work together to promote a new technology that promises to improve system performance. Hitachi, Seagate, Fujitsu, Samsung and Toshiba have formed the Hybrid Storage Alliance to promote the technology, which is expected to come to market later in the first quarter. Hybrid disks include flash memory that works as a buffer between the computer system and the disk. The memory will be used for short-term storage heading both to and from the disk and will mean an overall reduction in the amount of time the disk spins. That will reduce power consumption and boost performance because reading and writing data from flash memory is significantly faster than from a disk.

Bank employees that do a lot of numeric input may appreciate the new wireless keypad/calculator and mouse set from Kensington. One dongle will communicate with a small wireless optical mouse and keypad that can operate as a standalone calculator or as a regular numeric keypad. Both are AAA battery powered and the set runs $59.

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ATMs/Kiosks

ATM manufacturer Triton has signed an agreement with Ventus Networks to bring a managed wireless network infrastructure to the U.S. ATM market. The agreement with Ventus Networks allows ATM deployers who buy or lease Triton machines to utilize wireless connectivity to drive in-house and off-premise ATMs. The agreement also includes monitoring, maintenance and management services.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has just published the 2006 update to "A Guide to the ATM and Debit Card Industry." It is available here: 

http://www.kansascityfed.org/PUBLICAT/PSR/BksJournArticles/ATMDebitUpdate.pdf 

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According to a new survey by Truste, an overwhelming number of Americans favor the use of biometric identifiers in passports, driver's licenses and Social Security cards. A full 82 percent of the respondents in the survey said they support the use of biometrics in passports, while more than 72 percent support adding it to Social Security Cards and driver's licenses. The same is true when it comes to the use of biometric IDs in credit and debit cards, although most of those who responded to the survey appear to be reluctant to share biometric data with retailers because of privacy concerns. More than 60 percent of those surveyed said they like the idea of using biometric identifiers in credit and debit cards, but only 27 percent of those surveyed support the use of biometrics in retail store loyalty cards.

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Portland, OR-based Tyfone is targeting banks with their secure mobile financial services technology. Their mobile platform enables mobile devices to perform banking activities such as fund transfers, bill payments, and some point of sale transactions. The firm says that customers receive bank-branded memory card clones for their phones that enable secure, mobile financial banking and payments.

Visa announced the launch of a mobile platform that Visa says "lays the foundation for the commercial availability of mobile payments and services to millions of mobile users around the world. The new platform is designed to foster collaboration between the financial services and mobile telecommunications sectors for the delivery of mobile payment applications and payment related services." They say that the new m-commerce technology platform ties together a wide range of functions, including contactless payment, over-the-air personalization, couponing, mobile banking, Internet payment, and person-to-person (P2P) funds transfers. 

The PELORUS Group has published a new report titled "Alternative Payments: Changing The Rules" that concludes that there are three emerging payment alternatives to traditional magnetic stripe credit/debit cards: contactless credit and debit card payments (sometimes called proximity payments), mobile payments (m-Payments) and biometrically authenticated payments. According to the report's principal author, Vance Hodnett, "In the nascent melding between traditional payment systems offered by financial institutions and payment systems offered by others, such as telecom carriers and independent service providers, financial institutions will have both an opportunity and a threat when it comes to offering consumers functional and suitably responsive payment systems. Over the long run financial institutions will find it in their interest to offer their customers more flexible and convenient payment methods."

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Security experts at RSA have come across a new tool that automatically creates sophisticated phishing sites - it has been dubbed the "Universal Man-in-the-Middle Phishing Kit." Using the new kit, the scammer only has to enter variables such as which site should be spoofed and where the fraudulent page will be hosted. The tool then produces a dynamic Web page in the PHP (hypertext preprocessor) scripting language. The fraudster hosts this page somewhere on the Web, and lures people to it with e-mail messages or other links. The dynamic page created by the phishing kit actually pulls in the current website of the target organization and displays it, but the criminals capture any data that is entered.

CyberDefender recently released version 2.0 of its CyberDefenderFREE product - the all-free Internet security suite. This advertising-supported product contains six modules: earlySPY, earlyVIRUS, earlySPAM, earlySCAM, earlyMONITOR, and safeSEARCH. For small banks, CyberDefenderFREE might be all the protection they need. To get rid of the advertising, you can pay less than $1 per month per user. That is the only difference between the free and the paid version – the included ads. 

Lockdown Networks has unveiled the industry's first third-party NAC (network access control) product to integrate with Microsoft's NAP (Network Access Protection). NAP is Microsoft's implementation of NAC, the emerging technology for vetting the security of end points before allowing them onto a network. The company says that their NAC appliance doesn't require software at the end points. In theory, you could have NAP on all the Windows end points and then use the Lockdown appliance to enforce NAC on everything else on the network.

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SECURITY: 

Finding a Balance between Security and Convenience

Arcot - http://www.arcot.com   Read R. 'Doc' Vaidhyanathan's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Arcot.pdf

Code Green Networks - http://www.codegreennetworks.com   Read Chip Hay's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/CGN.pdf

Comodo - http://www.comodogroup.com   Read Andrew J. Pynes' comments:     http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Comodo.pdf

Corillian - http://www.corillian.com   Read Greg Hughes' comments:    http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Corillian.pdf

Digital Resolve - http://www.digital-resolve.net Read Dennis Maicon's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/DigitalResolve.pdf

e-DMZ Security - http://www.e-dmzsecurity.com   Read Kris Zupan's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/e-DMZ.pdf

Intrusion - http://www.intrusion.com   Read Jay Barbour's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Intrusion.pdf

MagTek - http://www.magtek.com   Read Kiran Gandhi's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/MagTek.pdf

Network Armor - http://www.networkarmor.com   Read Stephen Goldsby's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/NetworkArmor.pdf

Perimeter Internetworking - http://www.perimeterusa.com   Read Kevin Prince's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Perimeter.pdf

RSA Security - http://www.rsasecurity.com   Read Marc Gaffan's comments:     http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/RSA.pdf

SecureWorks - http://www.secureworks.com   Read Jon Ramsey's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/SecureWorks.pdf

TriGeo Network Security - http://www.trigeo.com   Read Michelle Dickman's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/TriGeo.pdf

WhiteHat Security - http://www.whitehatsec.com   Read Jeremiah Grossman's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/WhiteHat.pdf

WinMagic - http://www.winmagic.com   Read Joseph Belsanti's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/WinMagic.pdf

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Digital Marketing is always a hot topic, but difficult for many banks to get a handle on. Targeted digital communications include: email marketing, newsletters, customer surveys, sales promotions, corporate communications and event promotion. We will cover one affordable Web-based solution in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe now.

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TowerGroup states that 2007 will be “the year of image exchange.” They are predicting that 2007 will be the first year in which monthly check image exchange volumes surpass paper check presentment volumes. They believe that "although factors such as ACH check conversion and electronic bill payment growth will impact the number of checks presented in 2008-09, it is clear that by 2009 paper check presentment volume will be minimal." 

Over in the United Kingdom, Nationwide Building Society has made some new enhancements to their online capabilities. Credit card-carrying customers can now:

-- Request a credit limit increase and receive an instant decision, where eligible
-- Order replacements for damaged cards
-- Request a PIN reminder
-- Change their monthly direct debit payment amount or download a mandate to set one up.

Safeguard Internet Banking against Authentication Attacks and Phishing

Today's consumers are demanding financial institutions, and for that matter any organization of any size that provides a logon page to personal and business information, deliver unquestionable security whilst maintaining an ease of use balance.

myBiometrix efficiently meets and exceeds these criteria and that of FFIEC guidelines through our proprietary interface that addresses the needs of both Consumer and Provider in securing transacting online:

   • Authenticating the consumer (verifying who is accessing information by who they are not what they have)
   • Verifying the providers site (ensuring a Phishing episode is not being perpetrated).
   • Confirming the source of the transaction (originating PC)
In other words, all aspects of the transaction are secured.

myBiometrix leverages an array of foreground and background technology presented through an intuitive user interface that provides multi-factor “personal trait” authentication.

   • irrefutably authenticates “personally” to a website using traits including
   • prevent others from falsely using the owners credentials to log on
   • eliminating the growing incidence of Phishing and Pharming attacks
   • eliminating Key Logger exposure as the keyboard is not used
   • eliminating the need to remember or write down pass-phrases

myBiometrix authenticates through a range of methods including:

   • Finger recognition
   • Voice recognition
   • Face recognition
   • Biometric Smart Card
   • Geometrical code
   • Others…

myBiometrix is a scaleable solution that can be hosted by us as a Managed Service or run In-House. Delivering irrefutable authentication and security and monitoring mechanisms, whilst maintaining a practical usability balance, myBiometrix conveys a holistic approach that is a world leader in irrefutable Authentication and Verification.

Collaboration and Reseller enquiries are welcomed for our range of proprietary Biometric solutions.

LEARN MORE ABOUT myBiometrix:

 www.myBiometrix.com

OR CONTACT US DIRECTLY AT:

busdev@myBiometrix.com

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Internet Access

SMC Networks' VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) solutions accommodate a synergy between analog and VoIP technology. For example, their new SMC IP-PBX works with various IP phones, VoIP gateways, and analog telephone adapters to route calls among client phones, analog phones, and the PSTN network. Additional voice features such as conferencing, auto attendant, and voicemail are enabled to all phones. It also features on-board 256MB voicemail storage and an external USB port that facilitates storage backup.

Meanwhile, AbsoluteIP has launched the AbsoluteIPBX, an Internet Protocol business phone system designed to meet the functional and budget requirements of organizations with 5 to 200 phones. The system comes with an easy-to-use web based console, and IPAssist desktop call control software that permits call answer, transfer, park, page, intercom, extension monitoring, and call recording. Standard with the core system are automated attendants, a conference bridge, cellular phone integration, and advanced 50 port 800 hour voicemail with e-mail integration. The IPBX can connect to T1/PRI, POTS, PTSN and VoIP dial tone providers.

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Call Centers

Call center managers have a powerful tool in Virtual Observer (VO) from Coordinated Systems, Inc. VO Live gives managers the ability to reach out and interact with agents instantaneously as well as control desktops. VO Live includes three distinctive functions:

-- “VO Live Desktop” enables a manager to pop open an agent’s desktop on their computer screen to view or interact with the agent.
-- “VO Live Chat” facilitates instant messaging between the manager and the agent for textual conversation. Managers are able to chat with an agent in real time and provide real time strategic consulting as they assist a caller.
-- “VO Live Panel” allows a supervisor to view thumbnails of multiple agent desktops on one screen. A simple click provides a full screen view of any thumbnail.

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