BANK tech-trends News
 

July 13, 2009 - July 17, 2009

• 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 bundling its x86 servers with VMware's newest virtualization platform, and offering financing packages to lower upfront costs. The move combines IBM's System x product line, including blade, rack and tower servers, with VMware's vSphere software. All of IBM's System x and BladeCenter servers are eligible for the special finance plan, and IBM plans to offer financing for its iDataPlex servers later this year. The new financing options let customers put zero down up front, and finance purchases as small as $5,000.

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ATMs/Kiosks

Display Concepts has redesigned their 8.4-inch sunlight-viewable LCD for ATMs and they say that the new monitors will improve readability, reduce power consumption, increase LCD lifetime and reduce costs. They claim that the model V084H1 high-brightness ATM monitor provides bright, full-color images that are viewable in direct sunlight. It is compatible with NCR, Diebold, Fujitsu and Wincor Nixdorf ATMs, and introduces support for the built-in automatic dimmer found in Diebold ATMs which automatically adjusts brightness in response to ambient lighting conditions.

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A green PC maker out of the United Kingdom called VeryPC has added facial detection software to their machines that works in conjunction with the system’s power management features. Using a digital camera, the software, called PecoBOO, can turn off the screen and put the PC into sleep mode when no one is looking at it. However, VeryPC says the software doesn’t log any activities or act as a security beacon.

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According to a report by Cisco Systems, SMS phishing (or Smishing) scams have been getting worse in recent months. They bombard every phone in a certain area code with a phishing message sent by SMS (Short Message Service) telling the cell phone owners to call a fake 800 number that looks like it's from a local financial institution. They often use the open-source Asterisk software to set up a fake voice-operated system and pilfer information when people enter their account numbers, passwords and other sensitive information to authenticate themselves on the system. Nick Newman, a computer crimes specialist with the National White Collar Crime Center, notes that the scam subverts one of the main techniques that FIs and security experts have been trying to drill into account holder's heads for years. Newman said that "we always say, 'If you have any questions, call your bank, or they'll call you.' Well SMS is pretty close to calling your bank. It gets to the point where it's like, 'What do we tell people to do now?'"

Nagios is an open-source network monitoring system that uses SNMP, Perl, and other languages to monitor your network, with a browser interface for viewing the current state of your network and your network devices. Now IT admins can use their iPhones to monitor their networks with iNag. This native iPhone app can talk to an existing Nagios system without a complicated setup and only runs $15 in the App Store.

Trapeze Networks announced a location-based radio frequency firewall application for its location appliance that works like a fence to prevent Wi-Fi devices in unauthorized areas – such as parking lots – from penetrating the WLAN. The capability is similar to Meru Networks' RF Barrier, which is not location-based, however, and is more about preventing signals from leaking out of a building rather than keeping out uninvited users. Trapeze LA-200 Location Appliance has also been upgraded to support 200 APs and 4,000 clients.

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According to a recent report from PandaLabs, Trojans accounted for 70 percent of all new malware between April and June 2009. The report found a 6.2 percent drop in spyware, which now accounts for just 6.9 percent of all new malware. In contrast, adware rose significantly over this period, from 7.5 percent in the previous quarter to 16.3 percent. The increase is largely due to fake antivirus applications. The percentage of worms also rose slightly, now accounting for 4.4 percent of all malware. Trojans were also responsible for more infections than any other type of malware during the quarter. This type of malware was behind 34.3 percent of all infections detected by PandaLabs, an increase of 2.86 percent over the previous quarter.

Security firm Actimize is warning financial institutions of a new attack vector - Man-in-the-Phone (MitP). MitP blends new and old fraud techniques to trick consumers into authorizing transactions via the phone. In a typical MitP attack, a fraudster impersonates a bank representative and calls the customer to inform them that their savings, checking or card account may have been compromised. The fraudster advises the customer that in order to remedy the situation they should remain on the line and verify a few account details. At the same time, the fraudster initiates a call to the bank and connects the customer with a real bank representative while the fraudster remains muted on the line. The bank requests authentication information, such as social security number, passwords and other personal information, which is then provided by the customer. Once the personal information is provided, the fraudster quickly ends the conference line and informs the customer that the issue has been resolved, and proceeds to work on taking over the customer's phone banking relationship.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University claim that they have developed a reliable method to predict Social Security numbers using information from social networking sites, data brokers, voter registration lists, online white pages and the publicly available Social Security Administration’s Death Master File. “Unless mitigating strategies are implemented, the predictability of SSNs exposes them to risks of identity theft on mass scales,” the researchers wrote. Other observers agree and believe that our existing SSN system of identification is seriously outdated and needs to be significantly updated.

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Online & Mobile Banking:

Saving Costs and Increasing Marketshare

eEminder - http://www.eeminder.com   Read Thomas Utsch's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/eEminder.pdf

Fiserv - http://www.fiserv.com Read Dave Selina's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Fiserv_Selina.pdf

Fiserv - http://www.fiserv.com Read Steve Shaw's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Fiserv_Shaw.pdf

Harland Financial Solutions - http://www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com   Read Jeff Marshall's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/HFS.pdf

MShift - http://www.mshift.com Read Pamela Livingston's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/MShift.pdf

Syphr - http://www.syphronline.com Read Chris Langeley's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Syphr.pdf

TowerGroup - http://www.towergroup.com Read Charul Vyas' comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/TowerGroup.pdf

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

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Microsoft has launched new CRM Accelerators for the company’s Dynamics CRM. The new CRM Accelerators from Microsoft are available for free to current Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers. The Social Networking Accelerator allows marketers to monitor and analyze customers' conversations on social networking sites, while the Portal Integration Accelerator connects Microsoft Dynamics CRM to an organization's website. Finally, with the help of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Netsize's SMS plug-in, marketers can fine tune and send SMS campaigns to a targeted audience.

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The steady pace of consolidation of regional automated clearing house (ACH) associations is continuing with the merger of Mid-America Payment Exchange and Payments Central. The new entity, called Epcor, serves more than 2,300 financial institutions in all or parts of 12 states from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic. The merger will bring MPX’s non-ACH services - such as education and support for payment cards and checks, remote deposit capture, and fraud and risk-management support - to Payments Central’s banks clients. By some accounts, the US now has 18 remaining regional ACH associations.

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Aspect, a unified communications solutions provider, announced new enhancements to its UC applications. The enhancements include new instant-messaging capabilities, expanded presence functionality within the contact center, and increased integration with the Tellme on-demand voice portal. The new features are available through the Aspect Unified IP 6.6.1 platform product. The company said that these features augment the UC capabilities available via the UC applications' core queuing, routing, and reporting functionality.

If your bank would like to keep a close eye on your website, you might be interested in these two low-cost disaster-recovery systems:

• Alertra is a service that periodically tests Web services and notifies the affected parties if a site is down. It runs about $7 per month for Alertra to monitor your website and your separate mail server's SMTP service. Alertra's e-mail notifications are free; text messages and automated voice calls cost a few cents per incident.
• EasyDNS offers a real-time DNS (domain name system), which allows a website to switch from one IP address to another within minutes. Without a service like this, a new server may not be findable by visitors for 24 to 48 hours while its IP address propagates gradually around the Internet. This service runs about $20 per year.

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NICE Systems has introduced NICE Perform eXpress which is designed to deliver cost efficient call recording for regulatory compliance. NICE Perform eXpress caters specifically to the needs of branches offices and small to medium contact centers. Nice claims that their affordable system can be deployed in less than four hours per site, and is easy to use and maintain.

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