AOL to Sell Secure ID Tags to Fight Hackers

[R. A. Hettinga]

<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=6284760>

Reuters



AOL to Sell Secure ID Tags to Fight Hackers
 Mon Sep 20, 2004 06:18 PM ET

  NEW YORK (Reuters) - America Online will begin offering to sell members a
security device and service that has been used to safeguard business
computer networks, the world's largest Internet service provider said on
Monday.

 AOL, a unit of Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , signed
a deal with Internet security company RSA Security Inc. (RSAS.O: Quote,
Profile, Research) , to launch its new AOL PassCode, designed to add an
additional layer of protection to member accounts.

 PassCode users will be provided with a small handheld six-digit numeric
code key.

 To log onto an AOL account equipped with the service, users will have to
type in the six-digits, which refresh on the device every 60 seconds, on
top of using the regular password.

The code-key device will cost $9.95. Monthly service costs range from $1.95
to $4.95.

 "AOL PassCode is like adding a deadbolt to your AOL account by
automatically creating a new secondary password every 60 seconds," said Ned
Brody, senior vice president of AOL Premium Services.

 Hackers coined the term "phishing" in 1996 to refer to the act of
swindling unsuspecting AOL customers into giving up their passwords through
phony e-mails or instant messages.
-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'