TriCipher
Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TRICIPHER ARMORED CREDENTIAL SYSTEM™ PROVIDES
VARIETY OF TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION METHODS TO MEET FFIEC
GUIDANCE
Only Solution to Manage Multiple Forms of Authentication
From a Single Infrastructure; Flexible Solution Protects
Against Man in the Middle Attacks and Provides a Realistic
Growth Path and Investment Protection
SAN MATEO, Calif. – November 8, 2005 – TriCipher,
Inc., a leading innovator of strong authentication for
the real world, today announced that its TriCipher Armored
Credential System™ (TACS) provides a variety of two
factor authentication methods that meet FFIEC guidance.
Unlike other strong authentication solutions, TACS is architected
to protect against “man in the middle” phishing
attacks, which have become increasingly common as phishers
evolve their tactics. Additionally, TACS supports many
types of two-factor authentication from a single infrastructure,
allowing financial institutions to choose a different balance
of security, cost and ease of use for each type of user.
In accordance with FFIEC guidance, financial institutions
can easily match authentication strength to transaction
risk across a wide range of needs. In addition, TACS is
seamless to deploy – users don’t even have
to change their passwords. With TACS, as attacks and regulations
change, financial institutions can quickly migrate users
between two factor types without having to buy additional
infrastructure.
“The FFIEC’s guidance on Internet banking
authentication is harmonized with security best practices,
and is even timelier due to growing phishing and identity
theft concerns”, said Mark Diodati, analyst, Identity
and Privacy Strategies, Burton Group. “Password authentication
is not sufficient for Internet banking. Financial institutions
must implement easy to use multi-factor authentication
to protect their customers’ assets and privacy.”
“We chose TriCipher before the FFIEC guidance was issued, and we’re
very glad we did,” said Scott Mackelprang, Vice President of Security and
Compliance, Digital Insight. “We’re already ahead of the game in
securing online banking for our customers, and we know we have a strong growth
path in the TriCipher solution to stay ahead.”
Variety of FFIEC-Compliant 2 Factor Options
TACS 2 factor authentication options range from clientless credentials appropriate
for high volume deployments all the way to smart cards. TACS works with a
wide variety of 2nd factors including the user’s PC, industry standard
one time password tokens from many vendors and even USB memory sticks or
MP3 players that users can self-provision.
TriCipher FFIEC compliant options include:
| 2 Factor |
Shared Secret |
Token |
Out-of-band |
Mutual Authentication |
Desktop Security |
Monitoring and Reporting |
| Browser 2 Factor |
Yes |
Cookie |
Phone, SMS, Email |
Via secret greeting |
No |
Yes |
| Device 2 Factor |
Yes |
PC (can use TPM) |
Phone, SMS, Email |
SSL client and server authentication |
Yes |
Yes |
| Portable 2 Factor |
Yes |
Self-provisioned |
Phone, SMS, Email |
SSL client and server authentication |
Yes |
Yes |
| Armored Token |
Yes |
Any OTP, scratch card, Bingo card |
Phone, SMS, Email |
SSL client and server authentication |
Yes |
Yes |
| Smart Card |
Yes |
Any standards-compliant smart card (can use TPM) |
Phone, SMS, Email |
SSL client and server authentication |
Yes |
Yes |
TACS Security
TACS security is based on proven cryptographic techniques and has been through
extensive third party review. In addition, TACS is based on 25 issued or
pending science patents (10 under exclusive license from Verizon® Communications).
All TACS credentials exist in two parts, making them very difficult to steal
and allowing instant revocation. Most TACS credentials use mutual authentication
in SSL to protect communication channels, preventing man in the middle and
other eavesdropping attacks. The portable 2 factor credential uses a patent-pending
rolling key technology that can prevent a thief from using a stolen memory
stick.
TACS ships on a FIPS 140-1 Level 2 rated ID Vault that
provides secure storage for sensitive identity data, credit
card numbers and encryption keys. The ID Vault helps protect
against unauthorized access to this data, whether stored
in the ID Vault of encrypted in place in a separate database.
Deployment
Designed for high availability, the solution is delivered as a three-way mirrored
appliance set. Financial Institutions can deploy TACS behind their existing
web applications with no user impact --they can even keep their existing
passwords. Over time, users can be easily migrated between credential types
with minimal impact and, in most cases, with no separate hardware to provision
to users. The system is highly scalable and can handle three million users
on a standard single Xeon® server.
“Two factor authentication hasn’t been used
for broad applications like online banking because it was
too hard to use and too expensive, plus you had to roll
out a separate infrastructure for every authentication
type,” commented Ravi Ganesan, CEO of TriCipher and
former Vice Chairman of CheckFree®, Inc. “With
the new FFIEC guidance, financial institutions should be
aware that 2 factor authentication can be much more practical
than in the past. allowing them to can comply with the
guidance by balancing risk with usability and affordability
across a wide range of needs from a single infrastructure.”
About TriCipher, Inc.
TriCipher, Inc. provides strong authentication for the real world. The first
authentication system that issues multiple types of credentials from a single
infrastructure, the TriCipher Armored Credential System™ (TACS) allows
for authentication strength to change in response to new threats without
any infrastructure changes. Its patented technology fills the gap between
authentication systems that are either not secure enough or too hard to use
and deploy. TriCipher’s innovative approach to strong multi-factor
authentication protects against phishing and eliminates dictionary attacks.
Founded in 2000, TriCipher is headquartered in San Mateo, California. The
Company was incubated as NSD Security before launching as a separate entity
in 2005. Investors in TriCipher are ArrowPath Venture Capital, Intel® Capital,
Trident Capital and Wasatch Venture Partners.
Copyright 2005 TriCipher, Inc. TriCipher, Armored Credential,
and Armored Credential System are either registered trademarks
or trademarks of TriCipher, Inc. in the United States and/or
other countries. All other products and services mentioned
are trademarks of their respective companies.
For More Information Contact:
Elizabeth Safran, Trainer Communications for TriCipher, Inc.
elizabeth@trainercomm.com, (408) 920-0585
Sally Sheward, TriCipher, Inc.
sally@tricipher.com, (650) 372-1312