Westpac security improvements

A couple of months ago, Charles Wright, the IT blogger for The Age, questioned why virtually none of the Australian banks used dual authentication, to improve security for their customers.

Well, it looks like Westpac are finally (sort of) doing something in that department. Soon, they promise to unleash their “online keypad” on users of their online banking facility. According to their internet banking upgrade news page:

The change involves a new online keypad which you will need to use to enter your password. The online keypad uses special technology which scrambles your Customer ID and password to prevent those attempting fraud from capturing the information you have entered. Using the keypad to enter your password also helps protect against most types of keyloggers.

This is what you can expect as an interface when you signon:

So, instead of typing in your password, soon you’ll be clicking a bunch of buttons. Not quite what Charles had in mind, but a step in the right direction, for sure. Hopefully, they have enough money to also address their existing browser compatibility problems and make the above bit of “wizardry” actually work.

Posted in Business, Rants, Security, Usability, Web by Ivan