VASCO Intros Mobile Authentication for IVR Systems & Financial Transactions

VASCO Data Security Inc., a software security company supplying authentication products announced, that it will showcase its DIGIPASS for Mobile authentication solution at MEFTEC at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre.

This is also a suitable solution for banks that are desirous to secure multiple customers facing channels like e-banking, m-banking, phone banking and the usage of an IVR system and cash retrieval at the ATM.

DIGIPASS for Mobile is VASCO's authentication solution which uses the capabilities of Internet enabled mobile phones for authentication purposes. It can also be used for two factor authentication and digital signature, said company sources.

Many banks are striving to protect their e-banking channels against fraud attacks like phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks with two factor authentication. Banks are also introducing other services like m-Banking for their younger generation of customers or in areas where mobile phone penetration is higher than Internet penetration. M-banking also faces same problems as faced in e-banking implementations as in the protection of customer accounts.

VASCO's DIGIPASS for Mobile is suitable for protecting both e-banking and m-banking channels using a one-time password or OTP for accessing the banking application and e-signature for signing online transactions.

Also DIGIPASS for Mobile can be used for phone banking. Most phone applications also employ phone applications for using Interactive Voice Response or IVR which enables customers to access their bank using a touchtone telephone or voice recognition. These systems make use of simple passwords.

This information can be easily retrieved online using social engineering techniques making dynamic authentication of messages necessary in order to avoid impersonation. DIGIPASS for Mobile can be integrated in an IVR system when calling the bank. The IVR system will immediately recognize the customer who will be then prompted to give user ID and OTP for further accessing the banking system.

Company sources also added that DIGIPASS for Mobile can be used to secure cash retrieval at the ATM. ATMs are prone to fraud and skimming techniques and ghost ATMs are increasingly being used to rob accounts. DIGIPASS for Mobile strong authentication can be incorporated without the need for changing the existing ATM network. PIN validation can be simply replaced by OTP validation.

The process involves the activation of the authentication application on the bank customer's phone using a PIN-code. On PIN-insertion an OTP will be generated which the banking customer has to type on the ATM keyboard.

DIGIPASS for Mobile uses VASCO VACMAN authentication technology which is capable of supporting over 400 types of mobile phones and operates on Java phones, Blackberry, iPhone (News - Alert) and Windows Mobile and platforms like NTT Docomo.

Shamila Janakiraman is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Shamila's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Kelly McGuire