BANK tech-trends News
 

January 14 - January 18, 2008

• 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

Replacing older computers and peripherals with Energy Star-rated equipment can save both energy and space - and the lower power consumption can significantly reduce cooling loads in office areas, further extending savings. Many experts say that the place to start is you’re your CRT displays because they are the biggest offenders. Many banks have already begun phasing out CRTs in favor of more efficient LCDs, which use about one-third less power, but there are still have plenty of CRTs waiting to go.

Yoggie, the company that previously launched the firewall hardware device, has announced a new version of its product. The new firestick pico focuses on the firewall (no extra anti-spam, content filtering software) and comes at a price of $119. Also, the company behind the firewall won the award for Best of Innovations 2008 - Computer Accessories at the recent CES 2008 show in Las Vegas.

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ATMs/Kiosks

Daily withdrawal limits on ATMs are up dramatically since the 1990s, and the issue has come to the forefront recently when Citibank cut the daily ATM withdrawal limits of an unspecified number of customers starting in the middle of December because of “isolated fraudulent activity” around the city. Limits on cash back with PIN-based debit card point-of-sale transactions are also up for many issuers.

Solvport, a provider of ATM and kiosk project management, technical support, and on-site service, announced that they have developed a service Web-portal for their ATM customers. Solview allows Solvport ATM customers to check the status of all of their ATM-service tickets and communicate with a dispatcher online. Customers can open service and installation requests electronically, track field technician ETAs and view summaries of service events.

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New research from Frost & Sullivan says that the fingerprint isn't likely to be knocked off its pedestal in the financial markets anytime soon. The fingerprint has been adopted in financial markets as the biometric of choice. According to the researchers, it's not entirely uncommon to find fingerprint biometrics used for both logical/network access control and physical/building access control. Increasingly, the fingerprint is also being used to authenticate financial transactions, especially at ATMs and financial kiosks in the Asia-Pacific market. Fingerprint biometrics' "advantages of high accuracy, low hardware costs, and wide applicability to different financial applications will drive its dominance," wrote Frost & Sullivan researchers.

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According to a new ABI Research survey, consumers are keen to use their mobile handsets for making in-store payments, but the majority only wants to have one credit/debit account for making those purchases. Much of the work on developing a standard application platform across NFC (near field communications) handsets has been geared at providing a platform capable of supporting and managing multiple payment accounts from any number of credit and debit card issuers. However, ABI Research’s “Mobile and Contactless Payments” survey, carried out at the end of 2007, reveals that initially at least, consumers prefer a single account that is easy to manage on the handset.

Targeting the unbanked, Trumpet Mobile has introduced a prepaid card that includes cellphone-based money transfer capabilities. According to Trumpet, CashCard can be used for internal U.S. money transfers as well as to countries in Latin America. Transfers take place using Affinity Mobile’s MADE (Mobile Application Delivery Enablement) m-payments system and are transmitted via Western Union. An Affinity spokesperson said that "the subscriber has to spend around five to 10 minutes setting up the service and sending money to someone the first time. After the recipient is set up on the system, the subscriber can send subsequent amounts in less than a minute."

At the recent Consumer Electronic Show, Intel CEO Paul Otellini stated that ultra mobile Internet devices will be the "next big thing in computing," and that the company will be making a big push in the mobile space in 2008. Intel plans to ship its first low-power processor dubbed "Menlow" and chipset platform made for mobile Internet devices during the first half of this year. WiMAX is at the top of the list when it comes to the optional capabilities that Intel will feature in the Menlow, along with WiFi and 3G.

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Verizon Business has launched a managed universal threat management (UTM) service aimed at mid-sized organizations. UTM appliances combine firewall, VPN, anti-virus, anti-spam, content filtering, intrusion detection, and other security services on a single platform removing the need for multiple management stations and servers. Initially, Verizon Business will be offering Cisco's Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Juniper's Secure Services Gateway Family. The managed service comes with three levels from standard that provides basic appliance management and reporting to platinum which includes access to Verizon's security analysts and consultations.

The use of layered security and software-based authentication to protect online users will grow rapidly in 2008, according to new research by Aberdeen Group. The number of enterprises using digital watermarks is expected to double in 2008 from its current level to 22%. Rapid growth is also expected for risk-based authentication, from 20% to 32%, and transaction monitoring, from 49% to 68%. The new Aberdeen report, “Securing the Online User Experience – Building User Confidence and Stopping Fraud” details the strategies, capabilities and technologies used by the organizations doing the best job at preventing online fraud and building user confidence. Through an arrangement with Aberdeen, Arcot is making the $399 report available for free at: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30411028&cid=4269

- Detect and prevent internal and external attacks on your network
- Meet compliance standards and guidelines such as FFIEC

Banks are mandated to implement controls for ensuring the integrity of customer data and information systems. Log Management solutions that consistently monitor, store and analyze log data are essential components of a defense in depth program for protecting these critical assets.

EventTracker from Prism Microsystems secures IT networks from cyber attacks and insider-threats by automating the real time collection, analysis and storage of event logs from all sources. EventTracker provides a unique capability that integrates real-time log correlation and in-depth analysis capabilities with change management. This comprehensive security management approach allows you to quickly detect vulnerabilities and remediate them before costly data breaches occur. EventTracker comes integrated with over 1000 targeted reports to prove to auditors that internal processes are in tune with policies and appropriate safeguards are in place.

Deployed at dozens of credit unions and over 600 companies worldwide, EventTracker is a powerful, cost-effective solution that is highly scalable yet easy to implement and maintain.

Download a free trial and get further information at www.eventlogmanager.com

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Security:

Perimeter, Host and Endpoint Security – Finding the Right Mix

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

Astaro - http://www.astaro.com Read Alex Quinonez's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Astaro.pdf

Code Green Networks - http://www.codegreennetworks.com   Read Brian Czarny's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/CGN.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

HEIT - http://www.goheit.com   Read Dan Holt's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Heit.pdf

Integrated Computer Solutions - http://www.icsinc.com   Read Stephen Goldsby's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/ICS.pdf

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

Netsecuris - http://www.netsecuris.com   Read Leonard Jacobs' comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Netsecuris.pdf

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

Proofpoint - http://www.proofpoint.com   Read Sandra Vaughan's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Proofpoint.pdf

Sydel - http://www.sydelcorp.com   Read Antonio Gonzalez's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Sydel.pdf

TraceSecurity - http://www.tracesecurity.com   Read Jim Stickley's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/TraceSecurity.pdf

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

ZixCorp - http://www.zixcorp.com   Read Dena Bauckman's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Zix.pdf

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Research firm Packaged Facts has come out with a new report entitled “Teens, Money, Payment Cards and Financial Services in the U.S.” which says that children aged 12-17 are ready for greater involvement with financial services in general and cards in particular. The report reveals that 47% of teens age 12-17 have a savings account, 11% have a checking account, 15% have an ATM card and 3% have a credit card in their own name. Plus it says that they have control of roughly $80 billion.

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A company by the name of Anakam is the latest to target banks with a multi-factor authentication solution. The firm released Anakam.TFA version 3.0 which is part of their Anakam Identity Suite. From a single administration console, Anakam customers are able to configure one or more channels that include authentication via email, cell phones, PDA and mobile devices, IVR, call center, and voice biometrics. The company says that their solution delivers a one-time pass code to the channel that best suits the user and can be tailored based upon the users preferences, environment, behavior, or enterprise risk profiles.

Intuit announced the availability of Quicken Online - a new Web-based personal financial management service. Intuit says that Quicken Online gives people access to information across all of their accounts, including checking, savings, and credit cards, regardless of their bank. Quicken Online is available for a monthly subscription fee of $2.99.

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Internet Access

RingCentral, a provider of a complete virtual phone system for small organizations, has won Internet Telephone Magazine's 2007 Product of the Year Award. The company offers a hosted PBX solution for small businesses and integrates landline, VoIP, cellular, email, voicemail and fax with a Web interface. Last year, RingCentral released DigitalLine, a proprietary Voice over Internet Protocol service that adds the convenience and cost savings of Internet-based telephony, but does not require small businesses to rely solely on VoIP.

In another award ceremony, Samsung Business Communication Systems (BCS) announced that its OfficeServ 7100 has received a 2007 Product of the Year Award from Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine. The OfficeServ 7100 Converged Platform is a recent addition to the OfficeServ family of convergence solutions from Samsung BCS. The OfficeServ 7100 is designed specifically for small businesses that want control over their communication growth in an affordable package.

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Call Centers

While video conferencing is gradually becoming more commonplace among employees, it has made little progress in the contact center. Yet some experts believe that contact centers and consumers alike will soon embrace video contacts. They say that the technology driving such contacts is ready for primetime, and that consumers are eager for more personalized live support.

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