BANK tech-trends News
 

July 7 - July 11, 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

Keeping your data center or server room within an optimal operating environment is the focus of AVTECH Software’s Room Alert Signal Tower, a device that provides real-time monitoring of a variety of environmental variables. You can configure the product to monitor air temperature, humidity, and network latency; in addition, the product offers an open sensor port that lets you add more sensor types, including motion, smoke, and room-entry sensors. The Room Alert Signal Tower includes PageR Enterprise software for network monitoring and ships with multiple Ethernet ports, a multicolor light tower, and an optional auditory alarm. A Web-based interface lets you set device variables and generate graphs and logs of sensor activity. Pricing begins at $395 for the basic Room Alert Signal Tower, and the Room Alert Signal Tower w/Audio lists at $495.

Hewlett-Packard has released a new AMD processor-based quad-core workstation that it says offers the performance of a workstation at the price of a conventional desktop PC. The HP xw4550 workstation includes the quad-core AMD Opteron processor and has a starting list price of $1,193. All models of the HP xw4550 include an integrated ATI RadeonTM X1250 graphics card with the new error correcting memory capability, plus new features from the AMD Opteron processor line, such as enhanced power management and virtualization capabilities.

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ATMs/Kiosks

ATM thefts are surging across the country, according to the FBI. In 2006, the last year for which complete figures are available, 119 thefts of ATMs were reported to the FBI. That was pretty consistent — since 2000, the number has swung roughly between 100 and 200. However there have been more than 140 ATM thefts in North Texas alone this year. Authorities say organized rings may have been at work not only in Dallas, but also in Houston, Atlanta, San Diego and Los Angeles; multiple thefts have also been reported in numerous other cities, from Hartford, CT to Detroit to Honolulu. While stealing an ATM from a bank is a federal felony, it is a lesser crime in most jurisdictions — often simple theft or criminal mischief — if the ATM is taken from a retail location. However, banks need to be diligent because the criminals have become more aggressive and organized in their efforts.

Criminals broke into Citibank's network of ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores this year and stole customers' PIN codes, according to recent court filings. A critical issue in the investigation is how the criminals - who allegedly netted millions of dollars - infiltrated the system, a question that still hasn't been answered publicly. All that's known is they broke into the ATM network through a server at a third-party processor, and that consumers’ PINs were compromised from machines that showed no signs of tampering they could detect.

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One of the latest ultra-portable notebooks from Lenovo, the IdeaPad, aims to be more stylish and lightweight than your typical corporate notebook. In addition to its stylish 2.4lb design, the U110 includes Lenovo's new VeriFace facial recognition software. Utilizing the built-in Webcam, the software scans the face of registered users in order to allow access to Windows. In addition, the software records the faces of others who are trying to access your system.

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Juniper Research has published a new analysis of the mobile payments opportunity titled "Mobile Payment Markets: Digital & Physical Goods 2008 - 2013" that forecasts that the gross transaction value of payments made via mobile phone for digital goods (such as music, tickets and games) and physical goods (typically gifts and books) will exceed $300 billion globally by 2013. The study explores how the mobile phone is developing into a payment tool that will be used by more and more people, more and more often in the future, particularly in the top 2 regions of the Far East and Western Europe).

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Matasano Security has released a next-generation firewall management tool that centralizes the control and change management of multiple vendors’ firewalls. Playbook is a VMWare-based virtual "appliance" that gathers and manages firewall rules and revisions via a Web interface, and lets organizations make changes to multiple firewalls simultaneously, rather than individually. The software allows you search for firewall rules by service, IP address, network block, and other specific parameters. Playbook, which starts at $1,995, also provides detailed information on firewall changes, as well as a dashboard feature.

Google has released an internally-used web application security assessment tool called ratproxy. "The proxy analyzes problems such as cross-site script inclusion threats, insufficient cross-site request forgery defenses, caching issues, cross-site scripting candidates, potentially unsafe cross-domain code inclusion schemes and information leakage scenarios, and much more," Google said.

Version 3.0 of BackTrack has been released. BackTrack is a Linux-based distribution dedicated to penetration testing. It contains more than 300 of the world's most popular open source or freely distributable hacking tools. Most system admins should be able to get up and running using BackTrack with little or no Linux knowledge because the KDE graphical user interface makes most tools and programs usable with a few mouse clicks.

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Online Banking:

Online Banking... Catering to Your Most Desirable Customers

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

Exstream - http://www.exstream.com   Read Jerry Driscoll's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Exstream.pdf

Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com Read Marley Gray's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Microsoft.pdf

Open Solutions - http://www.opensolutions.com   Read Michael D. Nicastro's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/OSI.pdf

Piraeus Bank - http://www.piraeusbank.gr   Read Sotiris Sirmakezis' comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Piraeus.pdf

uMonitor - http://www.umonitor.com   Read Dinesh Sheth's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/uMonitor.pdf

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According to Harte-Hanks, the first 90 days after a customer joins the bank is the 'golden period' where nearly three quarters of cross sales occur. This first three months is the time to make every effort to get new customers to add so-called 'sticky' services such as electronic bill payment and direct deposit. The firm also noted that that an average of 35% of new bank customers attrite within the first year and more than half of those within the first 90 days, while only about 8% of online banking users who use bill pay and direct deposit services leave after the first year.

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J&B Software has introduced eCapture, a Web-based remote capture solution that features an expanded interface with back-end systems for user validations and enhanced applications for business rules. The solution's ability to define complex data formats will result in more secure and cost-effective capture of checks, according to J&B, which says eCapture supports all major check scanners.

Viewpointe Archive Services has launched technology that allows small banks to link via the Internet to its Pointe2Pointe image-exchange network. Pricing for Internet connectivity is on a per-transaction basis and there are no fees for implementation. Viewpointe is the second network controlled by large banks to introduce Internet connectivity to induce smaller institutions to participate in image exchange, following SVPCO, an electronic check-processing unit owned by The Clearing House Payments.

AP Technology announced the availability of a tri-level authentication and verification solution called Keystone Authentication. The firm says that it provides three security components for a multi-layered approach to front-end authentication and maximum protection against data-corrupting man-in-the-middle (MIM) attacks. Keystone Authentication is a one-time password architecture that offers three standard options. Option one is an image-based CodeSheet that provides tri-level access security by enabling user-unique authentication challenges, one-time password user authentication, and anti-phishing protection via a Keystone Identifier Image that is unique to the user's CodeSheet. Option two is a Visual Signing Technology that combines standard PIN security with one-time password authentication. Option three combines standard username / password technology for authentication with Visual Signing Technology when high-risk transactions, such as money transfer requests, are made.

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Internet Access

Launched in 2004, Aspera's niche is bulk data transfers. Their so-called fasp technology is billed as an alternative to such conventional transfer methods as FTP, HTTP and Windows Common Internet File System. It uses User Datagram Protocol technology to achieve throughput independent of the latency of the path. It is designed to tolerate extreme packet-loss and delay, and transfer speeds do not degrade with congestion or distance, the company says. Users control individual transfer rates and bandwidth-sharing, and can make adjustments midstream.

Mitel announced several enhancements to their communications platforms that are tailored to micro, small and midsized businesses. The new products include simple-to-deploy messaging, audio and Web conferencing, mobility solutions and IP desk phones. Remote workers can now use any Mitel IP phone or Mitel softphone plugged in to a broadband Internet connection to connect back to the home office IP-PBX. The Mitel Applications Suite is currently available for the Mitel 3300 ICP and will be available for the Mitel 5000 NCS by the end of 2008. The Mitel 5000 was formerly the Inter-Tel 5000 and it along with the Inter-Tel 3000 and 1000 have now been re-branded with the Mitel name. The Mitel 1000 is designed for two to five users, the Mitel 3000 for up to 50 users, and the Mitel 5000 NCS for less than 250 users.

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Call Centers

VoltDelta International, a provider of call center solutions including hosted and customer-premise directory assistance systems, announced the release of a fully automated voice survey application, OASIS on-call Survey. OASIS on-call Survey is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) application and uses a standard Web browser interface that permits contact center managers to easily configure a survey campaign. OASIS on-call Survey supports dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) or speech recognition for the caller. There is also a facility to record callers’ comments to collect a generalized feedback from them.

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