Boston, MA, USA
July 23, 2007 Multifactor
Authentication: Forging Ahead in 2007
Report Published by Celent
Contrary to popular belief, MFA solutions
are not running at full speed at many US banks and several are still
tackling a number of outstanding issues in 2007.
The deadline imposed by the Federal
Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has come and gone.
Banks scrambled to conduct their risk assessments and to select their
multifactor authentication (MFA) solution. At this point one would think
that US banks have fulfilled all requirements and would be sitting comfortably
with their individual responses. But while the majority of
banks certainly got as far as conducting a risk assessment, only about 50%
managed to have a solution in place by year end 2006 for retail
banking.
Midway through 2007, a fair percentage of
banks are still pondering what to do. One would imagine that this would be
a fairly simple and straightforward endeavor. However, MFA is still
wreaking havoc among banks of all sizes. Contrary to popular belief, MFA
solutions are not running at full speed at many US banks.
In a new report, Multifactor
Authentication: Forging Ahead in 2007, Celent examines and analyzes
the outstanding MFA issues that banks are tackling in 2007. Having a
solution in place for retail online banking isn’t enough. Banks are busy
tackling solutions for small business and corporate online banking.
Furthermore, while many banks have selected a solution for online banking,
few have tackled other electronic banking channels such as the telephone
or mobile banking. Additionally, many banks are under the impression that
certain educational programs such as those related to MFA are one shot
deals. This is simply not true. While the overwhelming majority of retail
customers will grasp the concept and successfully go about their banking,
they will not see the bigger picture. This can represent a significant
danger to the customer and can render security efforts useless. Banks have
to make sure they are constantly on top of educating their customers
regarding secure banking best practices.
The report also analyzes the use of MFA by
Canadian banks. Even though the FFIEC guidance does not apply to them,
Canadian banks have been following the play by play in order to determine
what course of action, if any, they should be taking. MFA is a reality in
the Canadian banking marketplace. 44% of Canadian banks were up and
running with a MFA solution in 2006. By year end 2007, 67% of Canadian
banks will have launched a MFA solution.
“Multiple MFA dilemmas are still plaguing
the banking industry,” says Jacob
Jegher, senior analyst in Celent's Banking group and author of the
report. “Although some are still taking care of the online channel,
banks are being challenged to launch solutions for other channels
including telephone and mobile. 2007 will be a repeat of what occurred in
2006—banks will be scrambling to deploy MFA although this time most will
be focusing on channels other than online.”
This 27-page report contains six figures and
two tables. A table of contents is available
online.
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