As cyber criminals become more sophisticated, KFCU and our partners continue to seek out ways to protect our members. Account takeover is on the rise. The bad guys are gaining online banking credentials by capturing the keystrokes on your PC as you log in to online banking and then using them to log on as you, the member and commit fraud. Typically this occurs when a piece of software, called a Trojan Horse, is unknowingly downloaded to an unsuspecting member's computer, capturing the member's keystrokes including the User ID and password to their online banking account.
Several years ago, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, (FFIEC) published some best practices for financial institutions on how to protect members and customers against account takeover fraud through the online banking channel. The biggest portion of the recommendation was the use of "out of band" authentication in the online banking sign on process.
Out of band authentication is simply the concept of providing another way to make sure that you are who you say you are when you sign on to online banking. When a member uses their debit card to get cash from an ATM, we use a form of out of band authentication when we ask for a PIN number to be entered. Even if someone had possession of your debit card they would need to know your PIN to use it.
The use of one time passcodes delivered to a cell phone or land line phone is the way that we ensure that you are who you say you are when you sign on to online banking. If a criminal were to obtain your User Id and Password for your online banking account, they could not sign on without that one time passcode. Receiving and inputting that one time passcode keeps online banking secure.
The safest, most secure way to bank online is to receive a one time passcode each time you sign on to online banking. We realize that it can be a nuisance to receive that code each and every time and key it in, but it really does offer the highest degree of protection and security for banking online.
So the next time you are prompted for a one time passcode, remember KFCU is just trying to keep your online banking safe and secure!
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