PhoneFactor today announced that Proton Bank S.A., a leading financial institution serving private and corporate clients throughout Greece, has implemented its award-winning multi-factor authentication service to add a critical layer of security to Proton's eBanking application.
PhoneFactor works by placing an automated phone call to the user to authenticate online banking account logins and transactions. The user simply answers the call and enters a memorized PIN on the phone keypad to authenticate. It works with any phone, anywhere in the world and protects against password phishing, keyloggers and other forms of malware, which are especially pervasive in Europe.
PhoneFactor's out-of-band authentication service is trusted by leading banks worldwide to protect millions of online banking users. "The service works perfectly for our clients," said Fotis Mitsakis, Proton Bank CTO. "The user experience is fully localized. So when a user receives an authentication call, the messages are all in Greek. It's quick -- the user's phone rings within a few seconds, and the caller ID displays a local number."
Proton Bank had evaluated other methods to strongly authenticate online users, such as OTP tokens, but had concerns about the security of these systems. Ultimately, the real-time protection and out-of-band architecture offered by PhoneFactor compelled Proton Bank to choose it over tokens. "The level of security is invaluable, but the service is also much easier than a token solution for both our customers and our IT department," added Mitsakis.
"In today's global economy fraud knows no borders," notes Steve Dispensa, CTO and co-founder of PhoneFactor. "We are pleased to work with institutions like Proton Bank who are leading the fight against online banking fraud abroad. Other banks worldwide are following suit as out-of-band authentication becomes widely recognized as a best practice in protecting online banking customers from increasingly virulent and sophisticated threats."
In addition to securing online banking, PhoneFactor also offers multi-factor authentication services to secure employee remote access and cloud services for enterprises worldwide.