Cogneto Provides Guidelines

SEATTLE -- Cogneto, the pioneer of cognitive authentication, today issued recommendations to help financial institutions better understand what is required from the authentication requirements noted in the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) guidelines. FFIEC’s guidance, entitled, “Authentication in an Electronic Banking Environment”, requires the implementation of more robust security solutions in order to protect sensitive information provided online, but lacks specific recommendations on how this can be achieved.

Financial organizations are expected to have completed their risk assessment and implemented risk mitigation activities in accordance with the guidelines by December 31st, 2006. With little guidance on what constitutes an adequate and effective implementation, confusion still remains as the deadline looms.

Financial services research organization TowerGroup forecasts that only 10-15% of America’s 8,900 banks will have some form of strong or multi-factor authentication solution in effect by the end of the year. This leaves more than 7,500 institutions that still need to address the issue. With approximately 87 million online banking users in the U.S., banks need to act now to instill a higher level of trust and confidence in their users, while educating them on how to prevent ID theft and fraud.

“As the problem of identity theft and fraud continues to grow, banks must act to ensure the best protection for their customers,” said Ralph Scobie, CEO of Cogneto. “With so many people entering the online banking world, financial institutions must understand the full extent of the FFIEC guidelines. Cogneto believes that both technology and education are key to protecting institutions and their customers.”

Cogneto