Almost everything is now being done online. Why? For one it is faster, easier and more convenient. This is also the reason why online banking is a bankable choice for almost anyone. With such capability, you could cut the hassle of going to your nearest bank. You could make the transaction right infront of your computer. Despite great technology, comes complicated security issues.

Nowadays, we have a big variety of viruses and hacks that any information can be potentially stolen or erased.

Of course our bank accounts are the ones that needed the most attention, with this urgency IBM presented its vision on Online Banking Security, which will do all online banking functions bypassing user’s PC.

How?

In guise of a seemingly ordinary USB stick, one could hardly perceive that it is also equipped with  a display and smartcard slot, that needs to be connected to user’s computer. Then, it creates secure connection channel to bank’s online transaction server.

This connection completely bypasses user’s PC, which means that no information is saved or stored on it. That way, even if PC is infected with unknown virus or malware, no precious information will be harmed – this is what this device is about. Built-in display could be used for transaction log and validation, and smartcard slot add an extra layer of security and protects transmissions
from man-in-the-middle interceptions.

Tagged as the Zone Trusted Information Channel, it works by running the Transport Layer Security/Secure Sockets Layer (TLS/SSL) protocol, including TLS engine and a networking proxy. This was made to completely remove any risks of data interception by viruses on host PC, so even if PC is heavily infected, there will remain nothing from your online banking session to be worried for.