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    1. Cybersecurity
    2. Information Security

    Bank of America Address Online Banking Security with Two-Factor Identification

    May 31, 2005
    Company to roll out authentication that would require a 'challenge question' to ensure identities

    Source Bank of America

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Bank of America’s 13.2 million online banking customers will have a new way to reduce fraud and identity theft with the launch of an industry-leading protection service that helps confirm a customer’s identification, the bank announced today.

    Customers can sign up for the service, called SiteKey, for free. Customers pick an image, write a brief phrase and select three challenge questions. The customer and the bank can pass that information securely back and forth to confirm each other’s identity.

    Bank of America, which has the most online banking customers in the country, is the first major financial services company to provide this added level of security.

    The service will launch in Tennessee in mid-June and roll out across the country by the end of the year.

    Using SiteKey is like getting a safe deposit box that takes two keys to open. Before the customer and the bank agree to open the box together, they confirm each other’s identity.

    “SiteKey helps you know it’s us and we know it’s you,” said Sanjay Gupta, e-Commerce executive. “It’s a free, personalized partnership that builds trust and security.”

    Signing up for SiteKey takes just a few minutes. The image, personal phrase and challenge questions work together to help:

    - Protect accounts. Someone trying to access an account from an unrecognized computer must answer a challenge question correctly. So even if a customer’s ID and passcode have been stolen through spyware or a phony Web site, the thief still would have to answer a challenge question to get access to the account.

    - Confirm the Web site’s validity. When customers log in to Online Banking at www.bankofamerica.com, they can click on the SiteKey button to see their secret image and phrase. If the image and phrase don’t appear, the customer could be at a fraudulent site. This capability targets a fraud called spoofing, and will help ensure customers are not fooled by fake versions of bankofamerica.com.

    To provide the service, Bank of America partnered with PassMark Security, a Redwood City, Calif.-based company that focuses on authentication systems to fight identity theft and other types of fraud.