BANK tech-trends News
 

May 7 - May 11, 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

IBM is developing a blade workstation, set to hit the market later this year, that moves the workstation from under a desk into the data center. Big Blue is partnering with Devon IT who has invested $8 million in the research and development into the thin client software that goes with the IBM blade workstation. The BladeCenter workstation features an accelerator processor that delivers high-resolution graphics to the monitor. The firms also say that blades are better for availability because typically there is software that allows you to fail over from one blade to another, so you can recover your working environment quickly.

A company called Netcordia is targeting organizations that demand an optimized and reliable network with their appliances and software. They say that their system takes about half an hour to install on the network and can then be told to go and discover and analyze the network without installing agents. It is network equipment vendor independent, and takes up less than ½ % of bandwidth to deliver reports. The appliance is network policy-driven and comes with a large number of ‘template' policies which can be applied unchanged, or customized.

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

At the recent KioskCom Self Service Expo, there were numerous high-end kiosks and "super ATMs" on display. A British company by the name of Felix Corporation and CreditCall Corporation, a developer of credit and debit card transaction systems, announced that they are bringing a hybrid ATM/kiosk to the American market. Their Max Box unit offers everything from cash dispensing to digital photo printing and will be targeted at gas stations, convenience stores and bars.

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Australian police revealed that a new facial biometric technology was used to identify a bank robber caught on closed-circuit TV during a holdup attempt last month. The criminal was arrested within a day of being matched against a photograph in a police database. The system electronically identifies suspects in seconds by comparing composite images, witness descriptions, photographs and video footage to faces in a police database. The database already holds 610,000 faces, including all those who have been arrested - the infamous mug shots are now digital.

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The Center for Financial Services Innovation has released a white paper entitled "Mobile Financial Services and the Underbanked: Opportunities and Challenges for Mbanking and Mpayments." They note that unlike consumers with multiple payment and banking options, underbanked consumers could transfer most of their transactions to their mobile phones if presented with attractive, secure, and accessible mobile services.

Meanwhile JupiterResearch has come out with research findings that are critical of the current rush to mobile banking. In a new report, "Mobile Banking: Assessing Servicing Opportunities via Cell Phones," JupiterResearch found that despite renewed efforts on the part of financial institutions, overall interest in mobile banking services is limited. Just eight percent of online consumers who own a cell phone are interested in using mobile browsing to check account balances. "Banks should not offer mobile services that aim to mirror or duplicate the online experience," said David Schatsky, President of JupiterResearch. "Online banking brought consumers the convenience of banking anytime. Mobile banking can add an anywhere element, but banks should identify where such ubiquity is crucial."

Another vendor has thrown their hat into the mobile banking arena: Fronde Anywhere. Fronde Anywhere’s Bank Anywhere solution has already been implemented by Kiwibank, where it is enabling their customers to access a full range of banking services and complete transactions from their mobile phone. The firm says that their Java and SMS-based Bank Anywhere solution enables financial institutions to offer a wide-range of mobile services from a single platform, including account balances, transaction history, and fund transfers, as well as two factor authentication.

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Check Point Software just shipped a new intrusion prevention system (IPS) from technology acquired from NFR Security earlier this year. Check Point's new IPS-1, which is priced starting at $7,000, includes such features as a hybrid detection engine that uses multiple detection and analysis techniques to prevent attacks, including zero-day protection; so-called confidence indexing to calibrate enforcement appropriate to risk levels; advanced forensic analysis and reporting; and centralized management and graphical views across all IPS-1 sensors. 

Security firm Secunia has released their new NSI (Network Software Inspector), currently available as a free beta. It is an expansion of the company's Software Inspector, a utility that helps computer users pinpoint software programs that are missing security patches. Secunia says the NSI can be used by network administrators to find out exactly what is installed, what needs patching or which applications are out of support. It can be used to:

• Find all software installed down to the exact version number. 
• Verify that the latest security patches and secure versions are installed 
• Detect products that have reached End-of-Life product support from the vendor. 
• Provide a UI for the mapping of vulnerable applications across a network. 

Banks that are all Microsoft shops have a leg up if and when they decide to implement end-to-end encryption policies. That is because the software giant has a full lineup of enterprise encryption and key management products. We will cover them in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe now.

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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In-store branches can be an effective way to market credit services to under-banked households, according to a recent research study by SYNERGISTICS Rerearch. Close to half of the low-income respondents who use in-store branches say this is their primary branch. Although an equal proportion of those with income of $40K+ use in-store branches, less than one-quarter of these higher-income consumers say that an in-store branch is their primary branch. William McCracken, CEO of SYNERGISTICS, stated, “In-store branches represent a very effective channel for financial institutions to deliver credit and other financial services to the low income market. Financial institutions with an interest in serving the low income market via this channel should take steps to strengthen their retailer alliances and bolster this valuable conduit.”

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The Online Banking Report has a report entitled "Lifetime Statement Archives." In it, they argue that banks would be well advised to offer guaranteed, long-term storage of financial transaction records, statements, check images, and other financial documents. Five to seven years would be the minimum, but life-of-the-account storage would be even better as a retention tool and a way to deliver great customer service.

Some criminals are using businesses to abuse the automated clearinghouse (ACH) system. The fraudsters apparently generate random account numbers, into which they try to deposit one cent. When one of the tiny deposits clears, the criminals know they have hit upon a live account and begin to withdraw funds from it. In some cases, the charges allegedly appeared to be coming from a North Carolina-based mortgage company. In every case the amount withdrawn was the same and occurred at the beginning of the month, which was a ploy by the scammers to stay well ahead of the issuance of end-of-the-month statements. 

There are two forms of eStatement delivery: “push” or “pull.” Naturally, each has its own pros and cons. We will cover all of them in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe now.

Revolutionary Convergence of Security Technology for Secure Internet Banking!

MagneSafe^TM P55 is a portable card reader/authenticator with four key technologies for secure online banking: Cardholder Data Encryption, MagnePrint^® card authentication technology, Website Authentication and Track 1, 2 and 3 card reading capabilities. In conjunction with MAGENSA^TM, the MagneSafe P55 is designed to offer secure, multifactor authentication for Internet banking, empowering consumers with the freedom and confidence of knowing that their transactions are protected anytime, anywhere.

MAGENSA, a Trusted Verification Authority that provides real-time, remote-hosted credential authentication services, allows credit unions to integrate PCI DSS and FFIEC compliant multifactor authentication, data encryption, website authentication, and data federation capabilities without the need for substantial financial investments or massive changes to the existing infrastructure.

For more information about the MagneSafe P55 or MAGENSA, visit www.magensa.net, or call 877.MAGENSA.

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Internet Access

Selecting an enterprise Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) solution is a major decision. Because voice service is critical to the operation of a bank, no one wants to implement a technology that compromises call quality or reliability in any way. But many experts say that the cost savings and value-added functionality of VoIP make it a compelling investment. Quintum Technologies, an eight-year-old VoIP solutions provider, has numerous white papers such as 'Risk and Rewards of VoIP Implementations' and 'Extending VoIP to Remote Locations' that may help you in your decision making process.

While an increasing number of American organizations have signed up for VoIP, many businesses still rely on more conventional telephony solutions. According to research from In-Stat, even though 20 percent of U.S. companies are using VoIP, 44 percent of their voice lines are still using traditional TDM (Time Division Multiplexing). They found that many firms are moving carefully until the technology has proven itself and their old TDM equipment depreciates out. However in four years, In-Stat expects about two-thirds of businesses will be using some form of VoIP.

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Call Centers

More and more call centers are looking at remote agents to cut costs, but also as a key part of their disaster recovery plans. But many organizations consider it a challenge to predict which individuals - including candidates for jobs and existing service reps - will perform at their best when they do not have direct supervision. A package called Hire@Home, developed by Chicago-based FurstPerson, is looking to address these concerns. This software comprises online pre-hire assessment and job simulation tools that indicate whether agents or call center candidates have the skills and traits to work from their homes. In addition, the software verifies that agents have set up their computers to allow them do their jobs. Additionally, the software can be used for identifying individuals who are able to work effectively with less in-person supervision.

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