ING Bank FSB of Wilmington, Del., has started using security software from RSA Security Inc. to improve the authentication process on its Web site.
The unit of ING Group NV of Amsterdam sent some customers an e-mail over the weekend asking them to enroll in the new system by selecting an image that will be displayed on subsequent visits to the site. This method of assuring consumers that a bank's site is legitimate was popularized by PassMark Security Inc., which RSA bought in April.
RSA's software also checks to see if a computer is the one the customer typically uses. If it is not, the user must answer challenge questions to gain access to the site.
ING also participates in RSA's eFraudNetwork, which pools observations among banks to spot fraud across institutions.
In September, ING implemented an authentication tool on its Web site: an on-screen keypad used to enter a personal identification number with mouse clicks. The tool is meant to protect people from keylogging viruses, which fraudsters use to monitor everything typed on a keyboard, including online banking passwords.
Many banks use RSA's PassMark system under different names. Bank of America Corp. has used it since June 2005 under the name SiteKey, and Zions Bancorp. recently began using it under the name SecurEntry.
Though lots of companies offer such software - Cyota Inc., which RSA bought in December, had its own version called eStamp - landing B of A as a customer gave PassMark prominence.
RSA merged PassMark's software with Cyota's in June to form a product called Adaptive Authentication, which it is offering to its customers as an upgrade to the predecessor products.
