Comments on: Bank of America to Launch Identity Theft Protection http://www.robhyndman.com/2005/05/27/bank-of-america-to-launch-identity-theft-protection/ any technology distinguishable from magic is not sufficiently advanced Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:37:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: d http://www.robhyndman.com/2005/05/27/bank-of-america-to-launch-identity-theft-protection/#comment-156 d Wed, 27 Jul 2005 01:35:55 +0000 http://www.robhyndman.com/?p=592#comment-156 It's amazing how something can look good in theory to an executive ensuring the security of the customers, while completely disregarding the largest security threat. As a former Bank of America customer, dealing with their on-line banking was a primary reason that I closed my account with them. This new change only seems to exacerbate the current situation. First allow me to describe the largest security threat: to log onto the Bank of America account you had to insert your actual account number. I’ve dealt with many on-line banking systems and this is the only one that requires the actual account numbers. This alone causes several security risks that a challenge question and picture can not eliminate. First, the account number is being transferred by the computer, so it would be very possible to intercept. Second, I don't know many people who can remember this number, so they have to use some sort of notation system which could be stolen or even forgotten in shared computer areas. In addition to this unique log-on information, when you first set up an on-line account Bank of America has to mail you the first password. Then if you forget your password, you are locked out of the system in three tries and have to wait a few weeks for a new password to arrive in paper mail format. These delays are not acceptable to on-line bankers. While a challenge question isn't a bad thing, what will happen when someone forgets that they previously wrote? (For example: H.S. instead of high school.) Will this be yet another cause for the online account to be frozen until a paper document is mailed to you? Security is one thing but more than 24 hour delays are another. It seems like Bank of America isn't addressing these issues at all, so I doubt that the added security feature will help to make on-line bankers more satisfied with Bank of America. It’s amazing how something can look good in theory to an executive ensuring the security of the customers, while completely disregarding the largest security threat. As a former Bank of America customer, dealing with their on-line banking was a primary reason that I closed my account with them. This new change only seems to exacerbate the current situation.

First allow me to describe the largest security threat: to log onto the Bank of America account you had to insert your actual account number. I’ve dealt with many on-line banking systems and this is the only one that requires the actual account numbers. This alone causes several security risks that a challenge question and picture can not eliminate. First, the account number is being transferred by the computer, so it would be very possible to intercept. Second, I don’t know many people who can remember this number, so they have to use some sort of notation system which could be stolen or even forgotten in shared computer areas.

In addition to this unique log-on information, when you first set up an on-line account Bank of America has to mail you the first password. Then if you forget your password, you are locked out of the system in three tries and have to wait a few weeks for a new password to arrive in paper mail format. These delays are not acceptable to on-line bankers.

While a challenge question isn’t a bad thing, what will happen when someone forgets that they previously wrote? (For example: H.S. instead of high school.) Will this be yet another cause for the online account to be frozen until a paper document is mailed to you? Security is one thing but more than 24 hour delays are another.

It seems like Bank of America isn’t addressing these issues at all, so I doubt that the added security feature will help to make on-line bankers more satisfied with Bank of America.

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