SWIFT wants two factor auth in banks
SWIFT wants two factor auth in banks after millions lost
SWIFT wants two factor auth in banks
Finally, SWIFT wants two factor auth in banks. This is one of the smartest suggestions we’ve seen this year. From its inception, BTS has strongly advocate two factor authorization for all types of login. This is the best line of defense to prevent many common unauthorized access problems.
This belated decision follows a week-long series of multi-million dollar on-line crime that could have been prevented by using two factor auth.
Stung by criticism, a few weeks later SWIFT’s CEO promised to review the organization’s security measures and earlier this week outlined a five-point plan in a speech at a financial conference.
On Friday, that plan was fleshed out a little. It will now “require” more information from customers and share that information with its other customers, plus inform everyone on its system of any incidents, and issue “best practices” for “cyber defense.”
Critically, it will “expand” its support of two-factor authentication as well as include “additional tools” such as monitoring software. Although we note that it has still not said it will insist on the basic security measure for transfers.
SWIFT will provide “audit frameworks” and create audit standards and certification, plus compare banks’ compliance level with “baselines.”
And it will “support increased payment patterns control” as well as “explore tools to allow customers to quickly recall fraudulent payment messages” and make it easier to put a stop on payments.
All of those improvements will help beef up the security of a system that moves billions of dollars around the globe on a daily basis. The fact that it took four incidents of theft and widespread public criticism to force SWIFT to enter the modern world does not put the organization in a good light, however.
For those not familiar with two-factor auth it provides a second layer of login security to protect the login procedure. For instance, after a user logs in with their username and passwords a four digit code is sent to an email address or a handheld device. This simple extra step can prevent countless losses.
The user then enters the code to complete the login. Unless hackers have access to the phone or the email account, their hacking attempts are useless.
While this may seem inconvenient to some people, it is the best way to provide login security. We live in a different age. Cyber criminals are real, and they want to steal your information and your money.
Using a second layer of protection only makes sense. SWIFT wants two-factor auth in banks now for a very good reason. Too bad they did not take a more proactive approach before losing millions. Don’t be a victim of cyber crime. Criminal cyber hacking is on the rise and will only continue to get worse as they hone their skills and become more organized. The threat is real. The struggle is real to prevent them.
If you need help with two-factor auth, or you want to get more information about it, please used to contact form or call us. We will be happy to help your company implement two-factor authorization.