Bank tech-trends News
 

February 12 - February 16, 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

Thin clients have been around for many years, but most organizations and end-users still insist on having "fat PCs" at the endpoint. Wyse Technology hopes to change that with its N10 architecture, which it says is designed to deliver a full PC experience, including multimedia and VoIP support, from inside the network or data center instead of on a person's desktop. Wyse is working with system-on-chip vendors to create a number of different processors on the same silicon that allows a lot of the functions that used to take place on the network to be processed by hardware locally, speeding up the process. Wyse has partnered up with NEC to create new devices; e.g., NEC's new US100 is a palm-sized device that can be placed on a desktop or even mounted behind the LCD screen, and runs $439.

For years, companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Canon and Lexmark have sold inexpensive inkjet printers and made up the difference in ink sales. Some analysts say that these manufacturers can make as much as 75% profit on the sale of ink cartridges. Now Kodak is taking a new approach: launching a new line of inkjet printers that are higher priced, but offer lower cost ink cartridges. Kodak's ink will sell for about $25 which is far less than the $60 to $80 it typically costs for replacement ink for photo printers.

Encryption may sound simple in theory, but in practice, it is a demanding process in terms of both management and processing power. More and more organizations are turning to encryption appliances to help them speed up the encryption process and manage the keys. We will cover encryption appliances in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe now.

MagTek®’s ExpressCard 1000 is the industry’s first “ALL-IN-ONE” instant issuance and complete card personalization platform forCredit, Debit, ATM, and Financial Gift Cards designed to fit securely and comfortably within a branch location.

For the first time, card personalization features such as color card-printing, magstripe encoding, smartcard encoding, card embossing, indent printing, and foil tipping have been combined into a single device which provides both the physical and logical security features required to meet the demands of a branch or retailer’s card issuing environment.

Equipped with MagnePrint® card authentication technology (www.magneprint.com), the ExpressCard 1000 offers the capability to capture the card's reference MagnePrint at the time of card issuance so that reference value may be used in conjunction with complementary risk management analytics with card present transactions. The ExpressCard 1000 can be connected as a peripheral to MagTek’s IntelliCAT and MCAPS 3000 PIN selection and instant issuance software suites creating a complete and secure card issuing platform.

For more information on ExpressCard 1000, go to www.magtek.com or call your MagTek sales representative at 800-788-6835.

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ATMs/Kiosks

An Australian company has come out with a new device that is designed to help ATM deployers fight the increasing incidences of ram raids. According to Lockit Systems, their ATM Ram Guard plinth prevents ATMs from being removed by would-be thieves. The plinth, installed at the base of an ATM, prevents the ATM from being lifted off the floor. 

Javelin Strategy and Research has come out with a new report titled "ATM Functionality Enhancements: Increasing ROI and Customer Satisfaction through Innovative Partnerships." The report addresses how current ATM channel strategies align with consumer needs and how financial institutions can augment and enhance those strategies to include customer acquisition. One interesting finding: 40 percent of consumers say they would like to have the ability to pay bills at the ATM.

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Bharosa, a global provider of proactive, real-time fraud detection and multifactor authentication solutions, released VoicePad, a voice authentication solution for Internet and phone transactions. VoicePad enables businesses to lower fraud risk and reduce operating costs through secure verification of consumer identities using biometric voice prints and recognition of the user's phone, a combination known as a "voice token." 

According to research from the Ponemon Institute, a majority of consumers in the US are so worried about the security of their personal information that they overwhelmingly want companies and their governments to turn to biometrics to protect them. In fact, 69% of citizens want banks, credit card companies, health care providers, and government agencies to adopt biometric technologies, rather than other security technologies like smart card readers and passwords.

RSA has formed new strategic partnerships with biometrics technology vendors MXI Security, Privaris and UPEK, which have all joined the RSA SecurID Ready for Authenticators Partner Program. MXI Security's portable security devices have the RSA SecurID algorithm embedded and are already shipping. Universal biometric tokens from Privaris and fingerprint authentication security solutions from UPEK will be integrated with RSA SecurID strong authentication technology. The company says that all three biometrics technology partners provide RSA-enabled three-factor authentication via something you have (the biometric device), something you are (your fingerprint) and something you know (a PIN). 

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At the recent Wincor World conference, there was a “bank of tomorrow” display that included an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) demonstration. Consumers with FI-issued RFID cards are greeted when they walk into the branch by a digital display that is prominently displayed at the entrance. Employees within the branch can instantly see the customer's profile on their computers. Using RFID tags embedded in marketing materials, users can wave brochures in front of a screen that displays additional information about the account or investment materials they pick up. Plus, employees will know the types of products their customers are interested in. 

AirMagnet Laptop Analyzer 7.0 provides a snapshot of the overall health of a wireless network, with information on signal strength, application alarms and individual devices. It protects against more than 130 wireless attacks, including rogue devices, DoS attacks, dictionary attacks, fake APs and RF jamming. The latest version features a new interference analysis section that provides an enhanced understanding of how interference on all layers of a network is affecting wireless traffic.  

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Kaspersky Lab is introducing Kaspersky Open Space Security (KOSS) that combines anti-virus, anti-spam, antispyware and protection against phishing and rootkits in one package. KOSS combines the use of traditional signature-based anti-virus technology with the ability to monitor system processes to look for malicious programs. Pricing for a 10-node license starts at $26.25 per node.

ScriptLogic announced the release of Security Explorer 6.0, a device that provides real-time, interactive management of access controls and security on Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 file servers and workstations. Security Explorer gives IT Departments the power to manage, search, duplicate, backup and recover permissions and security across the network from a point-and-click interface. Security Explorer is available for $419 per server, and $4 per workstation. 

Failing to secure your switch architecture is a critical error, but some administrators often neglect to lock down Layer 2 of their network infrastructure. In the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends, we will cover some essential procedures that will enable you to properly configure and secure your switch infrastructure - subscribe today.

MAGENSA™ is a trusted verification authority (TVA) that provides real-time remote-hosted credential authentication services. These services enable banks, businesses, and government agencies to integrate PCI DSS and FFIEC multi-factor authentication and end-to-end data encryption capabilities into their existing processing environments without the need for substantial financial investments or massive changes to the existing infrastructure.

Specifically tailored to enhance the security of internet banking and ATM applications, MAGENSA delivers unprecedented security and authentication using the familiar magstripe card credentials (secure tokens) that a bank has already issued to its customers. MAGENSA is powered by the trusted and proven card authentication technology known as MagnePrint® (www.magneprint.com). MagnePrint differentiates a customers’ authentic magstripe card from an altered or counterfeit version, transforming the traditional magstripe card into a powerful security token.

MAGENSA’s Secure Data Center (SDC), a reliable 24x7 operations center that is maintained 365 days a year, simplifies the integration of data decryption and MagnePrint scoring into existing websites, and allows for data federation across institutional domains.

For more information on MAGENSA, please visit www.magensa.net or call 877.MAGENSA.

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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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Experian Group and First Manhattan Consulting Group have launched Financial Personalities, a segmentation and scoring system for specific financial services, including credit card, home equity and mortgage products. Financial Personality scores are based on consumers’ needs, attitudes and actual behavior data gathered from direct consumer market research. This information is combined with credit and demographic data. Along with a Financial Personality score for each consumer, a framework reveals critical aspects of each Financial Personality, such as the importance of rates and fees, discipline with finances, perceived financial security and their use of financial products. 

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Online services provider Corillian is integrating support for Windows CardSpace into its online banking products. Windows CardSpace is a component of the .NET Framework 3.0, available on Windows Vista and Windows XP, which helps store a person’s digital identity in a security-enhanced manner, and provides a unified interface for choosing the identity for a particular transaction, such as logging in to a website.

According to a new report from the Aite Group, online account openings cost banks $15 each, compared to $65 for a traditional account opening. The report notes that automated funding is critical to online account openings because it completes the process in real time and makes it an end-to-end process. 

For banks looking to offer remote deposit capture, there are over two dozen suppliers who are already in the market and that number is growing. We will cover how to research various vendor solutions in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe now.

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

Brightpoint, which specializes in the distribution of wireless devices and customized logistic services, has partnered with D-Link to deliver bundled VoIP solutions for small to medium-size businesses. These D-Link solution packages are geared towards solving fundamental small to medium business needs, including basic office setup, mobile sales team deployment and remote office interconnectivity.

Business phone system specialist FacetCorp has unveiled release 4 of its FacePhone IP-PBX. The new version includes more than 90 enhancements to voice mail, presence management, call reporting, and administrative tools. Other new features of FacetPhone 4 include automatic, user-scheduled archiving of call recordings and a Web-based interface for accessing and sorting archived call recordings.

More and more employees are communicating with coworkers, vendors, and the public over public IM (instant messaging). This scenario leaves an organization vulnerable to IM-borne malware. Private IM systems, like Antepo, IBM SameTime and Microsoft OCS (Office Communications Server), provide security, auditing and control features, but still often need better protection via a dedicated security appliance. Fortunately, these products are fairly affordable and work well - we will cover some options in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe now.

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Call Centers

More and more organizations are turning to managed and hosted contact center services. The proof is in the numbers alone: by 2008, the global market for managed and hosted contact center services will have more than doubled, reaching a value of more than $5 billion. Once you make the decision to implement a hosted solution, finding the right service provider is critical. We will cover some items to look for when choosing a provider in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe today.

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