FFIEC News

SHAZAM Deploys TriCipher to Deliver Authentication Services to Over 1600 Financial Institutions

(Feb. 5, 2007) -- SHAZAM, provider of electronic funds transfer (EFT) products and services, has selected TriCipher's TACS multifactor- authentication platform as the de facto standard for authentication services for its 1,600 financial institution participants. The agreement equips SHAZAM with a solution to help protect against online security threats and phishing attacks. According to IDG News Service, 85 percent of all phishing scams target companies in the financial services sector.

"In our continuing efforts to tackle sophisticated threats, we have joined with TriCipher to deploy PC 2 factor strong authentication without the need to implement and incur the administrative costs of physical tokens or the security risks of storing passwords," said Terry Dooley, CIO for SHAZAM. "With strong multifactor authentication at the core of our offering, we are further securing our participants' sensitive data and giving financial institutions additional tools, such as restricting access by location. After the initial implementation, the solution will be transparent to the user and provide increased protection over the challenge-based browser solutions that are starting to show vulnerabilities to today's sophisticated online criminals."

"TriCipher's partnership with SHAZAM makes possible a comprehensive EFT solution that also mitigates many of the risks in electronic commerce," said John De Santis, President and CEO of TriCipher. "SHAZAM's expanding customer portfolio is testament to its leading-edge EFT solutions, and we're pleased that our advanced, PC 2 factor-based authentication can assure SHAZAM participants that their customers' data will be secure."

SHAZAM, whose comprehensive solutions deliver a range of EFT services to multiple institutions, requires access and authorization capabilities that ensure that no single institution can access another institution's data. Additionally, all users must have the appropriate level of authentication needed to access the applications and services to which they are entitled.

SHAZAM's deployment of TACS provides a future-ready solution that will help meet increasing security and regulatory demands, including Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) standards. SHAZAM also has the ability to add different levels of strong authentication according to the nature of the applications and services being accessed.

As part of the authentication platform for its customers, SHAZAM has integrated Computer Associates' SiteMinder application into its authentication architecture. In tandem with TACS, SiteMinder allows financial institutions to manage their own set-up, access, and control settings. This enables SHAZAM to provide seamless access and identity management, as well as strong authentication -- all within a single, integrated operating environment.

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