A Canadian software developer is launching a product aimed at making home banking transactions more secure.
World Star Holdings Ltd. of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has designed software that uses encryption to render Internet communications unintelligible to unauthorized third parties, the company said.
The software, called Vpage, is Windows NT-based but is compatible with Unix, World Star executives said. It uses neural network technology to encrypt data in a seven-layer process of pattern analysis.
Neural networks mimic the decision-making functions of the human brain and are used in other banking applications, such as identifying and tracking fraudulent credit card transactions.
In addition to limiting access between the end-user and the bank by a requiring a series of passwords, the software also inhibits outside parties from viewing transmitted data by scrambling the message.
"Even if the data is intercepted, the third party couldn't read it," said Brian Greenberg, president of World Star.
The software is designed for use by retail home banking customers, but it can be used to secure corporate intranets and bank-by-phone applications, Mr. Greenberg said.
The company is also using the software to help secure on-line gambling sites and on-line travel agencies, he said.
World Star said it has been hired to install their software at a "large U.S. bank," but the company did not give specifics.
