San Diego and Menlo Park, CA— [In April 2006 RSA Security acquired PassMark Security, a Menlo Park-based software authentication company.]
North Island Credit Union, one of the largest financial institutions in San Diego County, today announced that it has selected PassMark Security, the global leader in strong, risk-based authentication solutions for online banking and ecommerce, to provide fraud and identity theft protection for members accessing its services over the Web. The PassMark Two-Factor Two-Way solution, which will be integrated into the credit union’s existing Corillian online banking system, will be available to its members beginning in the third quarter of 2006.
"We at North Island Credit Union are proud of our commitment to delivering outstanding service and performance to our valued members," said David Delecalzada, chief information officer. "We selected PassMark’s strong, risk-based authentication system because it gives users the confidence of knowing they are actually in our Web domain, not at a fraudulent site. Greatly enhancing the security and integrity of our online banking environment is just one more way North Island Credit Union is working to improve the member experience."
Members enrolled in the system see their confidential, personal "PassMark" – an image and a phrase known only to themselves and the credit union – after they enter their personal ID but before they enter their password. This lets them know instantly that they are on the real credit union Web site, and that it is safe to enter their password. The result is two-way security, authenticating the credit union’s Web site to its members and vice versa. The visible PassMark instills confidence and reassurance about using the online channel, driving increased usage.
The PassMark system includes both Two-Factor Two-Way Authentication and real-time, risk-based transaction analysis and scoring to protect the front door (i.e., log-in) and the back door (i.e., financial transaction) of a financial institution’s online offerings. Using the system’s Policy Engine, each financial institution can easily implement its own decisions on what to do with transactions based on their risk scores.
Since the second-factor of authentication uses devices online users already possess, their computers and phones, the result is end-to-end protection for financial institutions and their customers against phishing, spoofing, keyboard logging and other fraudulent attacks, without requiring their users to carry any new hardware or install any new software. With the world’s largest database of online banking authentication data, PassMark’s risk analytics are among the most robust available today, providing strong, layered security.
"More and more financial institutions are realizing they need to get serious about providing stronger security to protect the integrity of online transactions, especially in light of new guidance from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) that strongly encourages them to institute multi-factor authentication systems by the end of 2006," said Lin Johnstone, CEO of PassMark Security. "We’re proud to be able to help North Island Credit Union create a more secure online banking environment while also achieving compliance with the federal guideline."
