Yesterday, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore announced the appointment of Assurity Trusted Solutions - a wholly-owned subsidiary of IDA - as the operator for its National Authentication Framework (NAF).
Under the framework, Assurity Trusted Solutions will own infrastructure and offer services that make use of the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) system - which involves a two-step process besides the standard user ID and password for secure transactions.
Assurity said it will be ready to roll out a single token in the second half of the year - provided that the banks, brokerages, hospitals, as well as government agencies which the company is in talks with agree to come onboard.
Assurity executive chairman Lim Hup Seng declined to name the parties involved in the discussions. But he pointed out that it will be cheaper for the service providers to implement the 2FA system collectively.
To encourage these service providers to come on board, Assurity will offer its services free for the first two years upon commercial availability. The device required to perform 2FA will also be offered free to Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents above 15 who are customers with the service providers.
IDA chief executive Ronnie Tay said the initiative will provide the "public and businesses with a convenient, trusted and cost effective means to better secure online transactions".
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is also pushing for brokerages to implement 2FA for online trading, four years after all Internet banking systems are expected to do so.
In a statement to MediaCorp, a MAS spokesperson said the financial regulator has advised the securities industry to initiate the development of the necessary systems this year.
ORIGINAL SOURCE
Disclaimer: Content used in this blog are courtesy of their respective owners
No comments:
Post a Comment