Multi-Factor Authentication Gets Thumbs Down From CUs

AUSTIN, Texas - Multi-factor authentication (MFA) tools will soon turn one year old at many credit unions, but its seems unlikely that a celebration is in order, according to a new, informal survey of 50 CU managers conducted by the Credit Union Information Security Professionals Association (CUISPA) here.

"Looks like MFA was a time-consuming and expensive exercise that didn't meet its goals," said Kelly Dowell, executive director of CUISPA.

For the most part, MFA produced unpleasant surprises, reported respondents, including drops in home banking usage, increased calls from members for help, and a wide range of technical problems due to ineffective and inflexible proprietary solutions.

Respondents described MFA as "a thorn in our side," "ghastly," and a "hassle."

MFA merely "satisfied the regulations," said nearly half of the survey respondents, who are also CUISPA members.

Nearly 80% of the respondents said they felt that their MFA tools would have to be "re-evaluated" before 2009.

Approximately 15% said MFA is a "big improvement in security." (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com