Authentication: Beyond Passwords

Analysts following the banking industry say that banks are in various stages of preparing for the Federal mandate next year. Bank of America is the first out of the gate with its new SiteKey picture-recognition service, which it will require all customers to use starting in early 2006. Customers choose a picture when they first visit and are presented their choices in subsequent visits to assure them the site is not fake.

This month, Washington Mutual announced that it now uses a version of computer fingerprinting that analyzes every online login and transaction, scores the potential risk of identity theft based on a broad range of criteria, and invokes additional authentication methods if needed.