With identity theft being so ramped these days and a major concern for most people, don’t worry there is new kid on the block. RSA a security firm has came up with a solution to stop cyber criminals. This new technology is cutting edge when it comes to making a purchase on the web. At a San Francisco security conference, RSA showed off a phone with unusual feature. When a web user makes a purchase or performs a banking transaction on-line, the phone receives a wi-fi signal from the PC making the transaction.
RSA’s handset, built by manufacturer HTC, then shows the transaction and waits for the user to approve it before sending another signal back to the computer, which allows the transaction to take place.
This new process is catching the eyes of the banking industry as well. Currently Bank of American has a security feature called “tokens” which is offered to there high end clients. This is offered with there cards which generate changing passwords that are required to authenticate transactions. Bank of America also currently offers a program for all there customers called “Safe Pass” which sends customers a text message to their cell phones when they bank on line, requesting that they confirm their identity.
According to Bank of America the program they use to prevent identity theft is text based which is much slower and more costlier than wi-fi.
There are currently 140 million cell phone users that text. So it’s easy to deliver this security feature.
Just to confirm, banks have always offered text messages when they suspected suspicious activity. The problem with this its is not a preventative measure.
The challenge with this new technology is bringing two-level authentication across the entire web. I will agree that it’s the best preventive measure for internet purchases that I have seen thus yet. With identity theft being a major headache, and crime growing quicker than the prevention, this is definitely an up coming solution.
As always we recommend that you get a copy of your credit report just to make sure there are no suspicious activities going on as well. Having credit report monitoring is great solution also. We just need to manage our personal information more closely these days, to have a piece of mind.
About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance, debt consolidation ,and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.
