MBNA, a Bank of America company in the UK, Corner Bank in
Switzerland, Cal in Israel and IW Bank in Italy are to take part in
limited trials of Visa's new one-time code card.
The next-generation cards feature a numeric keypad on the back
of a plastic card. Customers enter their PIN code to generate a
one-time password. This code, displayed on a card’s display panel,
is then used to authenticate online purchases.
The approach is an alternative to using a password when
authenticating online purchases through the much-criticised Verified by Visa scheme. As previously reported, VbyV passwords can often
be easily reset knowing only card details and a user's
birthday.
The new cards, developed in conjunction with Australian firm
Emue Technologies, are far more secure - though not infallible.
Some banks have already introduced two-factor authentication
technologies, which grew up in the corporate remote access market,
to provide extra protection to online banking transactions.
The approach means that basic phishing attacks aimed at tricking
users into handing over online credentials are insufficient to
compromise accounts because the code, typically generated by a
separate token or other piece of kit, is also needed to log into
accounts. That still leaves open the possibility of
man-in-the-middle attacks, where hackers set up websites that pose
as the real thing, tricking users into handing over one-time
passwords which are relayed to genuine banking sites in
real-time.
More sophisticated attacks of this type have already targeted Citibank customers.
Although one-time code technology is no silver bullet capable of
slaying online fraud it is a big improvement on using passwords,
which as Visa Europe points out can easily be forgotten. Bundling
the one-time password technology into a card also means users don't
have to deal with multiple items of kit.
Problems in getting out a personal calculator-style keypad
delayed the introduction of Barclays' PINsentry
scheme, which like the one-time code generator is also designed to
combat online fraud. Emue has managed to develop technology with a
three-year battery lifetime, overcoming one of the potential
stumbling blocks to the scheme.
Corner Bank has invited 500 to take part in the trials. Visa is
yet to get back to us on the total number of participants or
expected length of the presumably small-scale trails but we'll
update this story as and when we hear more.
In the meantime a slightly cheesy video of the technology in
action can be seen here. Images of Emue's card technology can be found
here.
© The Register
2008
