Daniel
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-26
Pleasanton, CA
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2 edits |  Banks Going To Two-Factor Authentication
For anyone not familiar with this, two-factor authentication is where you need two sources of information in order to access something. A real-world example of this is an ATM/cash machine. When you use an ATM you not only need your card, but you also need to enter your PIN.
There are four basic ways to authenticate:
•Something you know, e.g. a password.
•Something you have, e.g. a token or an ATM card.
•Something you are, e.g. biometrics such as fingerprints or retina scans.
•Somewhere you are, e.g. only being able to access something if you are in a certain place, such as within the Pentagon walls.
For the ATM example, you're using two factors out of those four -- something you have (your ATM card), and something you know (your PIN). And since you're using two of the four, you're using two-factor authentication.
So that's what we're looking at getting at all U.S. banks -- and the second factor is probably going to come in the form of something you have. That could be a token of some sort, or it could be one-time-passwords similar to those being used in Europe.
Anyway, something cool to look out for in the near future.
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