Industry insiders say customers are looking to the banks to ease their fears
RSA(R) CONFERENCE EUROPE, VIENNA, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The priceless
benefits of customer retention and cost management afforded by online business
channels will remain out-of-reach to the financial sector until it addresses
its customers' concerns over security, according to an industry panel at this
week's RSA(R) Conference Europe in Vienna, Austria.
The panel, moderated by Martha Bennett, VP and research director at
Forrester Research, focused on the key issues facing the consumer adoption of
online services in the financial sector. Delegates joined representatives from
E*TRADE Financial and the hosts RSA Security for a frank examination of why
broad-based confidence in the online medium has yet to materialize.
Delegates agreed that fears around online threats, as well as question
marks over the convenience and portability of proposed solutions, are holding
back "an explosion waiting to happen." More education is also needed before
consumers will execute on their desire -- and the parallel desire of their
financial institutions -- to invest, manage and transact more of their assets
online.
Christopher Young, vice president of consumer authentication services at
RSA Security, challenged that current fears over online threats represent a
call to action for the financial market: "Clearly, consumers are very
concerned about the security of their online accounts. That said, they are
also concerned about automobile safety -- but this doesn't mean that people
just want to stop driving. They simply want to know that security is being
addressed and taken seriously."
Martha Bennett agrees that confidence is key in this environment. "Our
research shows that there is a correlation between the adoption of online
banking and the deployment of two-factor authentication. Europe's primary
online banking nations -- Sweden, The Netherlands and Germany -- are also the
nations where stronger defense measures are commonplace, and so confidence is
higher."
The question of who should be responsible for stronger authentication
provoked a great deal of comment. "Consumers strongly believe that their banks
should put the necessary measures in place and do more to protect accounts,"
commented Ms. Bennett. "However this is not simply a technology issue -- it is
a question of process too. My belief is that financial organizations must also
make efforts to authenticate themselves to their users -- as well as vice
versa -- in order to make multi-channel processes sufficiently robust."
The panel also agreed that a major part of the challenge lies in better
consumer education and marketing. Effective messaging, training, and packaging
would be helpful in communicating to first-time users that -- in spite of
first impressions -- a majority of solutions are not difficult to use, and may
in fact be a lot easier than having to remember lengthy and complicated
passwords. It was suggested that the simplicity of the solutions becomes
apparent with usage.
The panel discussed the fact that many consumers are keen to use something
stronger than passwords for account protection, and that the confidence that
such protection would engender can work as a powerful business driver. There
is evidence from some organizations that strong authentication can increase
customer satisfaction and lead to increased investment and customer retention
levels.
The panelists discussed the importance of convenience and portability in
convincing consumers to use any new security solution. All agreed that
imposing a string of card-readers, PIN-pads and tokens on end-users would be a
major inhibitor, and that a common service-based approach -- in which
consumers can use their authenticator in multiple places -- is essential.
Looking ahead, Burt Kaliski, chief scientist at RSA Laboratories,
discussed a range of ways in which authentication can be strengthened, and
urged the industry to deploy a layered security approach that incorporates
protection through detection and prevention: "We are chipping away at the
threats, but there is still a long way to go. I believe that the critical
element is the interface -- and the trust in it. Finding a reliable way of
binding an authentication to its context will bring confidence and certainty
to all parties."
About RSA Security Inc.
RSA Security Inc. is the expert in protecting online identities and
digital assets. The inventor of core security technologies for the Internet,
the company leads the way in strong authentication and encryption, bringing
trust to millions of user identities and the transactions that they perform.
RSA Security's portfolio of award-winning identity & access management
solutions helps businesses to establish who's who online -- and what they can
do.
With a strong reputation built on a 20-year history of ingenuity,
leadership and proven technologies, we serve more than 18,000 customers around
the globe and interoperate with more than 1,000 technology and integration
partners. For more information, please visit http://www.rsasecurity.com
RSA and RSA Security are either registered trademarks or trademarks of RSA
Security Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other products
and services mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies.
For more information:
Courtney Hohne Matt Buckley
OutCast Communications RSA Security Inc.
(415) 392-8282 (781) 515-6212
courtney@outcastpr.com mbuckley@rsasecurity.com
SOURCE RSA Security Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.rsasecurity.com
CONTACT:
Matt Buckley of RSA Security Inc.,
+1-781-515-6212, mbuckley@rsasecurity.com; or Courtney Hohne of
OutCast Communications for RSA Security Inc., +1-415-392-8282,
courtney@outcastpr.com
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