Credit Union tech-talk News

March 5 - March 9, 2007

• General News
• 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
• Conferences

* Digital Envoy Acquires Cydelity
* uMonitor Releases Updates to Suite of Applications
* COCC Announces Stellar Results for 2006
* Elan Financial Services Partners with Sapphire Mobile Systems

Digital Envoy, an authority in transparent risk-based authentication, announced their intention to purchase Cydelity, a California-based technology provider specializing in real-time transaction monitoring. The Cydelity product line, including its patent-pending eSentry transaction monitoring solution, will be marketed by Digital Resolve, a business unit of Digital Envoy, which already offers the Fraud Analyst risk-based authentication technology platform as well as other leading anti-fraud tools.

Parsam Technologies, the provider of uMonitor financial technologies for credit unions, announced the latest Release 4.0 of its suite of products which includes Release 4.0 of Account Open and Fund service - uOpen and uFund, Release 4.0 of Funds Transfer service - uTransfer, Release 4.0 of premium Account Aggregation service – uView, and Release 4.0 of uMonitor Analyzer for system administration - uAnalyze. The company also introduced its latest service uVerify to assist financial institutions in their compliance with "know-your-customer" and customer identification programs.

COCC, a leading provider of next generation technology services for credit unions, announced that they attracted 10 new core processing clients in 2006, raising the overall total of contracted clients to 149. An additional 160 strategic product sales drove overall revenue to $53.1M in 2006, or 10% above the company’s record result in 2005. The firm also noted that their client satisfaction ratings reached an all-time high of 4.32 on a scale of one to five. 

Elan Financial Services has partnered with Sapphire Mobile Systems to conduct a mobile banking and payments pilot. The Phire network utilizes simple text messaging or SMS (Short Message Service) to function and does not require new hardware or software upgrades for customers. This initial pilot allows Elan PayCard customers to conduct balance inquiries, make person-to-person payments, and card transfers from their mobile phone. The pilot will be available to select Elan PayCard customers beginning this month.

Hardware News

Competing with Dell for small business users who need to back up their data, Hewlett-Packard has launched a low-priced, disk-based backup and recovery system. The HP StorageWorks D2D Backup System will automatically save the data from as many as four servers, with total capacity of either 750GB or 1.5TB. HP says that users can restore lost files within minutes, compared to a process of several hours for a tape-based system. The D2D system is designed for small businesses with little IT management experience, offering a simple setup wizard interface, Web-based monitoring, and standard Ethernet cables with iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface). However, HP recommends that "customers also keep a single tape-based system offsite for disaster recovery."

Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard is offering their Color LaserJet CM1017 MFP to small businesses at a reasonable price point: $700. It provides high-quality laser prints, and can scan, and copy, plus includes built-in media card readers. It sports an Ethernet port for networking, or you can attach it directly to a PC via USB. However if you need duplex printing or faxing capabilities, you will need to look for a different unit since the CM1017 doesn't support those features.

Networking vendor Linksys has unveiled a series of networking and storage solutions designed for small businesses. Linksys unveiled six new managed Layer 2 switches for small businesses - the Linksys Small Business Series Switches - that support Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet speeds. The managed switches, which start at $15 per port, also include features such as QoS (quality of service) so small businesses can deploy time-sensitive voice and video applications. As for their storage solutions, the Small Business NSS comes without hard drives so organizations can select the capacity they need. Linksys also offers on-disk file encryption to support secure off-site backups, archiving and data migration for small firms.

MagTek®’s ExpressCard 1000 is the industry’s first “ALL-IN-ONE” instant issuance and complete card personalization platform forCredit, Debit, ATM, and Financial Gift Cards designed to fit securely and comfortably within a branch location.

For the first time, card personalization features such as color card-printing, magstripe encoding, smartcard encoding, card embossing, indent printing, and foil tipping have been combined into a single device which provides both the physical and logical security features required to meet the demands of a branch or retailer’s card issuing environment.

Equipped with MagnePrint® card authentication technology (www.magneprint.com), the ExpressCard 1000 offers the capability to capture the card's reference MagnePrint at the time of card issuance so that reference value may be used in conjunction with complementary risk management analytics with card present transactions. The ExpressCard 1000 can be connected as a peripheral to MagTek’s IntelliCAT and MCAPS 3000 PIN selection and instant issuance software suites creating a complete and secure card issuing platform.

For more information on ExpressCard 1000, go to www.magtek.com or call your MagTek sales representative at 800-788-6835.

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ATMs/Kiosks

A Lithuanian company called BS/2 has rolled out a unique ATM security system in Europe. When an ATM user approaches the machine, their ATMeye system kicks in and monitors activity at ATM using video or stills to record transactions, and log the results. The ATMeye solution uses a Viewcast Osprey 100 video card installed inside the ATM PC and connected to internal and external cameras. This is combined with the ATMeye software, which connects the data captured to the ATM's internal journal. All actions at the ATM are recorded from card insertion through to the retrieval of the receipt. 

In a new report entitled "Next-Generation ATM Software: From Multivendor to Multichannel," research firm Celent estimates that 22% of ATMs globally are currently running next-generation multivendor (i.e., XFS-based) software, a figure that is expected to rise to 37% by 2009. The report notes that the ATM market is shifting toward more open architectures, as marked by the rapid adoption of Windows, the emergence of multivendor software supporting interoperability, and a move toward IP-based networks. "Best practice financial institutions that view the ATM as a relationship device rather than merely a channel of convenience are thinking beyond the concept of multivendor software and are tackling the challenge of better integrating the ATM within the enterprise, resulting in the emergence of a next-generation self-service architecture based on the principles of service-oriented architecture,” says Madhavi Mantha, author of the report.

Tranax Technologies is replacing their Mini-Bank 1500 with the Mini-Bank 1700. The 1700 includes a built-in topper, a fixed cassette, greater note capacity, and anti-jamming technology. While Tranax is no longer shipping the Mini-Bank 1500, their former partner Nautilus Hyosung will continue to offer the machine under the NH-1500 name.

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Biometric Security Ltd., a provider of voice-based biometric verification and identity management, says that the simple task of asking for PINs and passwords is now costing US contact centers around $10 billion per year. In addition, the average time to manually verify a caller’s identity is 22 seconds. They argue that voice biometric technology has the potential to completely eliminate the need for PINs and passwords. Plus they say that the technology also has the ability to improve the user experience, while increasing security and meeting FFIEC guidelines. 

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Market research firm ABI Research predicts that more than 50 percent of cellular phones will have some form of contactless purchasing power by 2010. There have already been 20 million credit cards issued with RFID chips, but some analysts believe that mobile devices are the future. Learn more in the April issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.

FSCC debuted a new Shared Branching Kiosk that features a wireless-broadband connection that supports the network’s Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Program. The kiosk delivers a wide range of transactions to facilitate Shared Branching services from digital deposits (no-envelopes, no deposit slips) to withdrawals by check. 

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Third Brigade, a security software company that specializes in host intrusion prevention systems, announced Deep Security 5, the newest release of its product. The firm says that it shields vulnerabilities in Windows, Linux and Unix operating systems, as well as enterprise and web applications by inspecting all incoming and outgoing traffic for protocol deviations, content that signals an attack, or policy violations.

In the battle against scam artists, credit unions need to keep a close eye on official checks. Mechanical alteration is the removal of a printed character by scraping the ink or toner with a knife. Perhaps the best defense here is to use “indelible” printing, a process where the printed characters permeate through the document preventing removal of the entire character without destroying the check. Another popular technique is chemical alteration which often entails removing printed characters with solvents. Look for vendors that offer chemical reactivity in their toner since this provides the highest level of protection because it reveals tampering with a highly-visible stain, even on check forms with tinted backgrounds. 

After observing insider attacks for years, some security experts have developed methods to help you spot potentially troublesome employees. We will provide a list of those hints and tip-offs in the April issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.

MAGENSA™ is a trusted verification authority (TVA) that provides real-time remote-hosted credential authentication services. These services enable credit unions, financial institutions, businesses, and government agencies to integrate PCI DSS and FFIEC multi-factor authentication and end-to-end data encryption capabilities into their existing processing environments without the need for substantial financial investments or massive changes to the existing infrastructure.

Specifically tailored to enhance the security of internet banking and ATM applications, MAGENSA delivers unprecedented security and authentication using the familiar magstripe card credentials (secure tokens) that a credit union has already issued to its members. MAGENSA is powered by the trusted and proven card authentication technology known as MagnePrint® (www.magneprint.com). MagnePrint differentiates a members’ authentic magstripe card from an altered or counterfeit version, transforming the traditional magstripe card into a powerful security token.

MAGENSA’s Secure Data Center (SDC), a reliable 24x7 operations center that is maintained 365 days a year, simplifies the integration of data decryption and MagnePrint scoring into existing websites, and allows for data federation across institutional domains.

For more information on MAGENSA, please visit www.magensa.net or call 877.MAGENSA.

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SECURITY: 

Finding a Balance between Security and Convenience

Arcot - http://www.arcot.com   Read R. 'Doc' Vaidhyanathan's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Arcot.pdf

Code Green Networks - http://www.codegreennetworks.com   Read Chip Hay's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/CGN.pdf

Comodo - http://www.comodogroup.com   Read Andrew J. Pynes' comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Comodo.pdf

Corillian - http://www.corillian.com   Read Greg Hughes' comments:    http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Corillian.pdf

Digital Resolve - http://www.digital-resolve.net Read Dennis Maicon's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/DigitalResolve.pdf

e-DMZ Security - http://www.e-dmzsecurity.com   Read Kris Zupan's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/e-DMZ.pdf

GalaxyPlus - http://www.galaxyplus.com   Read Vince Francone's comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/GalaxyPlus.pdf

Harland Financial Solutions - http://www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com   Read Niles Bay's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/HFS.pdf

Intrusion - http://www.intrusion.com   Read Jay Barbour's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Intrusion.pdf

MagTek - http://www.magtek.com   Read Kiran Gandhi's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/MagTek.pdf

Network Armor - http://www.networkarmor.com   Read Stephen Goldsby's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/NetworkArmor.pdf

Perimeter Internetworking - http://www.perimeterusa.com   Read Kevin Prince's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Perimeter.pdf

RSA Security - http://www.rsasecurity.com   Read Marc Gaffan's comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/RSA.pdf

SecureWorks - http://www.secureworks.com   Read Jon Ramsey's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/SecureWorks.pdf

Symitar - http://www.symitar.com   Read Larry Widel's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Symitar.pdf

TriGeo Network Security - http://www.trigeo.com   Read Michelle Dickman's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/TriGeo.pdf

WhiteHat Security - http://www.whitehatsec.com   Read Jeremiah Grossman's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/WhiteHat.pdf

WinMagic - http://www.winmagic.com   Read Joseph Belsanti's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/WinMagic.pdf

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According to recent research from the Raddon Financial Group, having branches convenient to where members live and work is central to not only winning member accounts, but also to retaining those accounts and maintaining higher deposit balances. Three-quarters of consumers in RFG's fall 2006 survey reported that their primary financial institution is located nearest to their home (57%), their office (15%) or an equal distance from both (18%). In general, the checking account typically determines which institution consumers consider their "primary" financial institution, so this means that net new checking accounts opened per branch should be an excellent metric by which to measure the relative success of a location.

Ohio-based Wright-Patt Credit Union has developed a "No Excuses Savings Club" that rounds up to the nearest dollar transactions on a member’s debit card and automatically sweeps those funds into a high-yield savings account with no minimum balance. In true credit union spirit, they are also offering this software at no charge to other credit unions that use the Symitar core system.

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ACI Worldwide announced the launch of an ACI On Demand offering, allowing credit unions to use the company’s payments software through a hosted solution arrangement. ACI On Demand solutions are available for: online banking using ACI Enterprise Banker; ACI Money Transfer System; and ACI Proactive Risk Manager for debit and credit card fraud detection.

NetEconomy, a provider of financial crime management and compliance solutions, announced that the CU Performance Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Florida State University (FSU) Credit Union, has selected its ERASE Compliance Manager solution as the core platform for delivering affordable anti-money laundering ASP services to credit unions across the United States. The first anti-money laundering ASP implementation is already underway at the Florida State University Credit Union. New credit union customers will be able to sign-up for the ASP service starting in April. 

Safeguard Internet Banking against Authentication Attacks and Phishing

Today's consumers are demanding financial institutions, and for that matter any organization of any size that provides a logon page to personal and business information, deliver unquestionable security whilst maintaining an ease of use balance.

myBiometrix efficiently meets and exceeds these criteria and that of FFIEC and NCUA guidelines through our proprietary interface that addresses the needs of both Consumer and Provider in securing transacting online:

   • Authenticating the consumer (verifying who is accessing information by who they are not what they have)
   • Verifying the providers site (ensuring a Phishing episode is not being perpetrated).
   • Confirming the source of the transaction (originating PC)
In other words, all aspects of the transaction are secured.

myBiometrix leverages an array of foreground and background technology presented through an intuitive user interface that provides multi-factor “personal trait” authentication.

   • irrefutably authenticates “personally” to a website using traits including
   • prevent others from falsely using the owners credentials to log on
   • eliminating the growing incidence of Phishing and Pharming attacks
   • eliminating Key Logger exposure as the keyboard is not used
   • eliminating the need to remember or write down pass-phrases

myBiometrix authenticates through a range of methods including:

   • Finger recognition
   • Voice recognition
   • Face recognition
   • Biometric Smart Card
   • Geometrical code
   • Others…

myBiometrix is a scaleable solution that can be hosted by us as a Managed Service or run In-House. Delivering irrefutable authentication and security and monitoring mechanisms, whilst maintaining a practical usability balance, myBiometrix conveys a holistic approach that is a world leader in irrefutable Authentication and Verification.

Collaboration and Reseller enquiries are welcomed for our range of proprietary Biometric solutions.

LEARN MORE ABOUT myBiometrix:

 www.myBiometrix.com

OR CONTACT US DIRECTLY AT:

busdev@myBiometrix.com

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8e6 Technologies provides appliance-based Internet filtering, Internet monitoring and reporting solutions. Their R3000 Internet Filter and Enterprise Reporter is designed to block access to questionable websites. The firm says that their Internet filtering products integrate into any existing network without major modification to the network hardware infrastructure - one centralized appliance can cover hundreds of branch locations.

MyWebAlert, founded in 2006 by network management industry veterans, says it will offer its monitoring services free to IT managers looking to get an idea of how well their websites perform from an external perspective. In action, IT managers sign up on the MyWebAlert website and let the service run. Customers do not have to install any software on their systems as the service checks for availability using software installed at external sources. MyWebAlert service runs 24-7, polls every five minutes from three independent locations and provides IT managers with e-mail alerts, monthly statistics reports and diagnostic information - such as DNS queries, HTTP error codes and other metrics to help keep the site running smoothly. 

Any IT Department will tell you that managing their telephone system can be complicated, expensive, and time-consuming. Hosted VoIP providers claim that they can help you avoid capital expenditures and the complexities of deploying a phone system, without compromising carrier-grade reliability. Learn more in the April issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe today.

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Contact centers today are overwhelmed with statistics and data: number of calls handled per hour, average handle time, first-call resolutions, etc. In the April issue of Credit Union tech-talk, we will cover some key metrics that are most critical in gauging and securing member satisfaction, while maintaining contact center effectiveness - subscribe now. 

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Catch Tom and Bill Rogers, Associate Editor of Credit Union tech-talk at the following conferences in 2007:

June 7-8, Las Vegas - Credit Union InfoSecurity Conference

October 10-13, Albuquerque - Firefighters' National Credit Union Summit

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