PASSWORD DOUBLE ENCRYPTION SHOWS BANKS ON BACK FOOT OVER CUSTOMER ACCOUNT SECURITY
2006-03-27
Moves by banks to introduce progressively more encryption for online customers to beat cyber criminals are to be welcomed, but may be too little, too late, according to top technology firm, PacketExchange.
The comments of the Tech Track 100-listed company come at a time when progressively more business to business and consumer banking services are being delivered using web-based platforms. However record levels of electronic security breaches and cyber extortion attempts are raising concerns amongst technical specialists over the inherent vulnerability of the Internet as a means to deliver and share secure information.
CEO, Kieron O‘Brien, explains:
“As soon as information touches what we now term ‘the Public Internet‘ it is fundamentally insecure and vulnerable to interception by hi-tech criminals and cyber extortionists. The latest two factor authentication systems coming into place will do a great deal to protect personal data until criminal elements catch up, but instead of going down the road of using more and more encryption each time, banking and business sectors could deliver greater long-term value for customers by looking at the scope of a private Internet to transfer sensitive information.”
O‘Brien continues:
“For too long business has simply built on the Internet with progressively more customer facing technology, without giving enough consideration to the way the underlying technology is structured and how easily it can be manipulated by those with a subversive agenda. Solutions for the future will undoubtedly be based on routing sensitive data over private networks, which work alongside the public Internet, effectively overcoming performance limitations – this is where the focus should be.”
PacketExchange offers ISPs, content providers and a number of businesses in the media, finance and betting sectors a ready-made private network which enables them to ‘peer‘ or exchange information with each other and their customers over secure private links without delays and risk of data interception. The technology is the proven basis by which companies of the calibre of Microsoft, Google and Telewest address aspects of their own data communications objectives, and the company‘s solutions are forming the basis of dialogue with Government and wider stakeholders.
