OT: 2-factor authentication hits the mainstream

[Derek Atkins]

"Rich Braun" <richb at pioneer.ci.net> writes:

> I just ordered my E*Trade security ID gizmo, to become an
> early-adopter in the overhaul about to hit online finance.
>
> Apparently the RSA Security two-factor authentication system that
> first became familiar to me in the halls of Digital Equipment eons
> ago (and/or its equivalent) is about to become a mandate for
> banks/brokerages right around the same time the digital-TV mandate
> goes into effect and eliminates another yet another old-way of doing
> things.

Great... So now I need to carry around a dozen securid tokens in order
to login to my various online bank accounts???  And of course I'll
have to label them (if the don't come pre-labeled) so I know which one
belongs to which account...   Plus this wont stop real-time phishing,
it will just prevent store-and-forward phishing.  *sigh*

This is where I want to BEG for a personal digital ID token
(smartcard) that /I/ can supply to the bank (instead of them
supplying to me)..  So I can have a single token that I need
to carry to prove my identity instead of N id's when I maintain
N accounts.

Or is this an attempt by the banking industry to cause consumers to
consolidate their accounts?  Hmm...

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available