Thales today announced that Wing Lung Bank, one of the oldest and most established Chinese banks in Hong Kong , has deployed Thales's SafeSign to enable token-based two-factor authentication for its retail e-banking customers. As one of the first local banks in Hong Kong to deploy token-based two-factor authentication, Wing Lung Bank now meets the Hong Kong Monetary Authority directive which states that single-factor authentication for high-risk transactions is no longer adequate in the face of rising online security threats.
The Thales SafeSign two-factor authentication solution, which went live in December 2006, has been deployed within Wing Lung Bank's NET Banking service (retail banking). Thales's SafeSign solution was selected by Wing Lung Bank due to its scalability, flexibility and ease of integration with Wing Lung Bank's existing e-banking system. In addition to SafeSign's ability to support the use of hardware tokens - Wing Lung Bank's current authentication tool - the security solution can easily support other forms of authentication which might be used in the future such as smart cards, SMS and e-certificates.
Based on the SafeSign architecture and Vasco hand-held tokens, Thales worked closely with Wing Lung Bank to design and implement the two-factor authentication system. Thales ensured SafeSign integrated seamlessly with the bank's existing and future applications whilst dramatically reducing development time and cost. Within six months, Thales helped to plan and implement a system that offers a highly scalable, resilient and extensible platform for the authentication of Wing Lung Bank's customers.
Fernando Yu, Head of the Electronic Banking Department, Wing Lung Bank Limited, said: "We believe that enhanced online banking security is the key to our long-term profitability. Thales's strong heritage and experience within the security and finance industries worldwide, combined with the ability to offer a flexible and scalable solution to meet our future requirements, made them a natural choice as our security solution provider."
Richard Mallett, Managing Director, of Thales Transport & Security activities in Hong Kong , added: " Internet banking forms a key element of many banks' future business strategy and a loss of customer confidence in this transaction channel can have a serious financial impact in the long-term. Banks have an obligation and a business interest in 'knowing' their customers and ensuring that customers have every confidence in the communication channels and security solutions that they provide. The implementation of SafeSign at Wing Lung Bank will provide e-banking customers with the highest levels of security, as well as being easy and convenient to use. "
Note to editors
Thales SafeSign is an identity management, user authentication and transaction security solution that enables banks to validate user identities and digitally signed transactions. It is a sufficiently flexible platform to allow every application or business owner to carry out a risk assessment and select a level of security appropriate to that risk. Whilst SafeSign meets Wing Lung Bank's immediate requirement for a token-based two-factor authentication solution, it also provides flexibility for the future. In order to meet changing market and customer needs, SafeSign has the functionality to authenticate credentials provided from a range of sources, such as digital signatures, one-time passwords, SMS messages and EMV cards, as well as various tokens.
Two-factor authentication is any authentication protocol that requires two independent ways to establish identity and privileges. Common implementations of two-factor authentication use 'something you know' (a password) as one of the two factors, and use either 'something you have' (a physical device) or 'something you are' (a biometric such as a fingerprint) as the other factor. In the case of Wing Lung Bank, they are using Vasco hand-held tokens combined with the user's online password or user name.
About Wing Lung Bank
Wing Lung Bank, founded in 1933, is among the oldest local Chinese banks in Hong Kong . Strongly committed to its motto of 'Progress with Prudence, Service with Sincerity', the Bank has developed an enviable reputation of providing personalized and sincere service to customers.
The Bank became a listed company in 1980. At 31 December 2006 , the total assets of the Bank stood at HK$85 billion. The Bank has a total staff of more than 1,400 and 41 banking offices at present, including the Head Office in Central, 34 local branches, a branch and a sub-branch in Shenzhen, China and two representative offices in China (one in Guangzhou and the other in Shanghai) and two overseas branches (one in Los Angeles, USA and the other in the Cayman Island, BWI).
About Thales
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressing defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thales's leading-edge technology is supported by 22 000 R&D engineers who offer a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy field-proven mission-critical information systems. To this end, the group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel and share a common base of technologies to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. The group builds its growth on its unique multi-domestic strategy based on trusted partnerships with national customers and market players, while leveraging its global expertise to support local technology and industrial development. Thales employs 68,000 people in 50 countries with forecast 2007 revenues in excess of € 12 billion.
About Thales e-security activity
Thales is a world leader in the provision of cryptographic security products and solutions for all critical infrastructures including governments, the military, satellite networks, enterprises and the finance industry. Thales has 40 years of unrivalled track record in protecting networks up to TOP SECRET and a complete portfolio of products, which includes network encryption, access control and remote user solutions. In the financial world, Thales secures value bearing transactions, data preparation for card and PIN issuing, and provides advanced user and message authentication solutions supported by secure identity management and token issuing. Over half of the world's banks, together with the majority of the busiest exchanges, currently use Thales technology and services.
Press Contacts
Thales, Security Solutions & Services
Sarah Milligan
Tel. +44 1 844 204 181
sarah.milligan@thales-esecurity.com
The Consultancy Limited
Emma Smith
Tel : +852 3114 6336
esmith@consultancy-pr.com.hk
Thales, Corporate Communications
Markus Leutert
Tel. +33 1 57 77 86 26
markus.leutert@thalesgroup.com
