Online brokerage Scottrade is implementing two-way two-factor authentication technology from California-based PassMark Security in a bid to protect its customers from Internet fraud and ID theft.
The PassMark authentication system requires no hardware tokens or software downloads. Customers are provided with a secret PassMark - a small image and a phrase - which is displayed during log in on the brokerage site. If the PassMark is correct customers will know the site is genuine and that it is safe to enter passwords.
Rodger Riney, Scottrade's president and CEO, says: "This new security system will give our customers confidence that when they log onto any of our trading platforms, they are accessing a legitimate Scottrade trading site and not an imposter."
Bill Harris, chairman of PassMark Security, adds: "With the escalating number and cleverness of online attacks, passwords alone are no longer sufficient protection for financial transactions."
PassMark says its system also employs a real-time risk-based decision engine that uses sophisticated statistical modelling to authenticate users, assess transactions and detect fraud.
Scottrade plans to introduce the PassMark system early in 2006.