White Papers for Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)

Its a matter of trust

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Protecting its clients and their assets is a huge responsibility -one that Charles Schwab takes very seriously.The company upholds that commitment by making security and privacy a cornerstone of its business philosophy,and more importantly putting its money where its mouth is by investing heavily in addressing evolving online security-
related needs.Its latest investment:a new class of authentication,the Extended Validation SSL Certificate,which allows online customers to see,at a glance,if the site they are visiting is one they consider trustworthy – or a fraud masquerading as a legitimate site.. Schwab ’s commitment to information security speaks directly to the biggest issue that every financial services organization faces:Trust.

Whether actually a victim,most individuals see themselves as potential prey to any number of electronic crimes,from an account take-over to credit card fraud or identity theft. “Who could really blame them?” asks Mick Kless,,Vice President of Professional Services at Icons,Inc.a Princeton,N.J.-based security consultancy.“Just open any newspaper,and horror stories abound.”
Among the recent headlines::
*Phishing attacks on the IRS,enticing taxpayers to relinquish their account numbers in order to receive an early rebate.
*The Hannaford retail data breach scandal in which malware re-routed credit card information to awaiting criminals.
*Countless new incidents of identity theft.
All of these threats put financial services organizations at a disadvantage.Customers are wary,unsure of online transactions – especially when financials are involved..And that ’s made customer confidence,or the lack thereof,one of the biggest issues financial services organizations face today.Yes,banking institutions have made significant strides in securing their perimeters.“But what ’s more important is customer perception of those security efforts,” Kless says..“Do customers know what their banks are doing to protect them?Do those efforts make customers feel safe enough to transact online?”

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