VeriSign Identity Protection Helps Users Fight Online Fraud

By Prabhala Ranga Sai

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

VeriSign (News - Alert) Identity Protection (VIP) is becoming a popular tool to fight online fraud. Consumers and businesses alike seeking to arm themselves against online fraud are turning to VIP, which was launched by VeriSign in 2006. Users of PayPal and eBay (News - Alert) were among the first and swiftest adopters of this authentication tool, and have since been joined by many others.

 

VeriSign this week highlighted the growing global acceptance of VIP by announcing several some new VIP Network members and an increasingly diverse selection of authentication device options available to consumers. The company claims VIP is the most comprehensive suite of identity protection and authentication services designed to strengthen and protect consumers' digital identities.

 

The following examples illustrate how VIP can be customized for different users according to their needs.

 

The PayPal Security Key is a small, hardware security credential that provides a one-time password during log-on, has been deployed in the US, Germany and Australia. PayPal officially launched PayPal Security Key in June, 2007 after a successful pilot run.

 

"We've heard from our customers that they like the extra layer of protection that the PayPal Security Key provides," said Mike Vergara, director of account protections at PayPal, in a statement. "We look forward to working with VeriSign to provide the PayPal Security Key to even more customers in additional markets -- enhancing security on the Internet and confidence in shopping online."

 

The results of a June survey of more than 650 attendees at the eBay Live! user conference, underscored some of the reasons consumers have adopted the PayPal Security Key. One in every three respondents said they already have a PayPal Security Key, and 81 percent said their key is easy to use. When asked about additional uses for the authentication device, 84 percent said they want to use the key to protect their online banking transactions.

 

Many users want to use the authentication key for online trading( 52%), online interactions with their health care providers (49%), online shopping ( 48%), music or video downloads ( 35%) and  online gaming (15%).

 

"When we announced VIP last year, we knew consumers and the businesses that serve them would rely on VIP to protect their transactions from online fraud, though we couldn't have anticipated such a huge global demand for this groundbreaking service," said Fran Rosch, vice president of Authentication Services at VeriSign, in a statement.  "Today's announcement highlights the broadening reach of VIP as leaders such as eBay and PayPal report successful deployments on three continents. Meanwhile, the VIP Network continues to welcome new members, and VeriSign offers more choices for consumers and businesses to conveniently protect themselves online."

 

As more consumers have embraced VIP-enabled authentication, more online financial institutions and service providers have signed on to the VIP Network. For example, the government of Fairfax County, Virginia (serving more than 1 million residents) and OpHedge Investment Services, a fund operations/administration service provider, are both now VIP network members.

 

Customers can use VIP wherever they see the VIP logo displayed on a Web site. This shared credential model gives consumers additional value by protecting their online identities across the Web, and gives enterprises the benefit of sharing transaction costs with other companies.