More than 100 U.S. banks are using multifactor authentication tokens from Vasco Data Security International Inc.
The Oakbrook, Ill., security vendor announced the milestone Wednesday and said that more than 550 financial companies worldwide are using its technology. Vasco's Digipass tokens generate a new password every minute or so for logging in to a bank's Web site.
This approach is called "multifactor authentication," because it requires people to have a second authenticating factor - the token - beyond the standard user name and password combination.
Critics of multifactor authentication have long said that the approach is expensive for banks, which typically pick up the cost of providing the tokens, and annoying to customers, who must keep track of the devices.
However, in recent years the increased risk of fraud has prompted a renewed focus on strong authentication.
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council has issued guidelines calling for all financial companies to implement some kind of strong authentication measures by yearend; though the council did not explicitly require multifactor tokens, many banks are using the technology.
Jan Valcke, Vasco's president and chief operating officer, said in a press release that he expects more banks to begin using his products soon.
"The growing number of online fraud schemes and the FFIEC guidelines are important catalysts to strengthen our leadership position," he said.
