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How to Improve and Strengthen Online Transaction Security

by with One Comment Post-Pandemic TopicsSolutions

Less Time Outdoors Means More Time Online

While COVID-19 continues to spread, people continue to spend less time outdoors and are making fewer trips to shops in order to curb transmission. To circumvent outings, many have opted to conduct transactions online from home – things like online banking, mobile banking, and online shopping have all seen increases. There has been a 30-40% annual growth in people’s online transactions since the outbreak, which is significant in its wider implications.

Online Payment Graphic

Public health management awareness has increased due to COVID-19 and in order to reduce the number of outbreaks, banks have actively marketed digital access services such as more feature-rich online and mobile banking options. Multi-factor authentication instruments and systems in financial applications solve time & location restrictions and are also cashless. They can also help us avoid potentially dangerous contact and greatly increase the frequency of public use. However, this pandemic has changed life and our transactional patterns, causing some banks to focus on internet banking while closing some physical branches.

Online Transaction Security

As the public’s demand for online transactions has greatly increased, the importance of internet transaction security mechanisms has become more clear. Traditional verification mechanisms are still mainly based on password input, and are matched via mobile phone text messages or email dynamic password verification. However, the security of these users’ information is still at a very high risk of being cracked and obtained for misappropriation.

While fingerprints have been used as a type of multi-factor authentication, the hardware needed for transportable mass adoption is not available. Fortunately, there is another biometric technology available in our smartphones. Combining the camera and some edge AI software, we can use facial recognition as a secure and reliable second layer of authentication in order to access files, systems, or even make financial transactions.

Facial Recognition - Mobile One Time Password

Facial recognition used as a dynamic and secure form of verification treats each face as a unique access key password. Users can be effectively protected through using this unique biometric (their face) and a deep learning recognition engine. With FR-MOTP from Gorilla Technology, each time you need to access a system or make a transaction, your password is the first line of defense and your face is the second and more unique key to making secure transactions. 

Considering the importance and frequency of the many online transactions we make, it’s apparent that multi-factor authentication should be used whenever possible. When facial recognition multi-factor authentication is used regularly, every transaction is made safe and the overall security level of digital transactions on the internet is improved.

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Minimizing Network Security Risks While Working from Home

by with One Comment Post-Pandemic TopicsSolutionsTechnology

WFH is Here - Probably for Good

More companies are transitioning from working at the office to working from home — it’s a fact. What started as a short-term workaround in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, just might turn into a long-term or even permanent change as more workers get used to the freedoms and slashed commute times that working from home affords. 

Employees are not the only ones benefiting from this new normal of more employees working from home, companies are reaping rewards like lower overhead and increased productivity from employees.

Network Security Risks Involved in WFH

In the transition from the office to a home environment , laptops are now a major security risk to companies. Previously, most PCs and laptops rarely left company grounds. So, even if a device was misplaced, the chance of an outsider gaining access to the device, and thereby the entire network, was slim. Employees using laptops out of the office creates a high probability that a non-employee will have physical access to these off-site devices (and in turn, network access). In order to mitigate this security issue, two-factor authorization (2FA) can be used.

2FA with Facial Recognition

With Gorilla’s FR-MOTP (Facial Recognition – Mobile One-Time Password), companies can secure and control employee laptop access by allowing only designated employees to access specific laptops. FR-MOTP works by having the employee use facial recognition on their mobile device to obtain a one-time password in order to unlock their Windows laptop. After installing the app on the device and the software on the laptop, the employee can quickly obtain a password and gain access to their laptop in two steps.

  1. Open the app and use facial recognition to display a temporary, one-time password to use on the company laptop.
  2. Enter the password from the app into the laptop along with the employee’s Windows login.

With facial recognition included in the 2FA process, even if an outsider obtains the Windows login info and the user’s mobile phone, they will be unable to log into the laptop because they won’t have access to the employee’s face.

Post-Pandemic Area Solutions like FR-MOTP deployed by enterprises and other operations can ensure that everyone involved can stay safe while being as productive as possible.

For further reading, our recently published whitepapers are recommended as an insightful starting point. If you’d prefer to talk to someone about solutions like what was outlined above, please contact Gorilla.