Green Armor's Identity Cues are the subject of today's editorial in Network World.

To quote Network World:

"Sometimes the easiest answers are the best."

Windows IT Pro Security Update - Phishing and Pharming - June 22

covered Green Armor Solutions' new Identity Cues offering. To quote:

Another new solution, Identity Cues from Green Armor Solutions, works at the Web site level. The first time a user logs on to an Identity Cues-protected Web site, the product generates colored visual cues that will then appear each time the user logs on to the site. A spoofed Web site won't be able to generate the same cues, so a user sent to a spoofed site will immediately know that he or she isn't visiting the legitimate Web site. Identity Cues is definitely a novel concept.

http://greenarmor.com

Green Armor Solutions Introduces Identity Cues Anti-Phishing / Anti-Pharming Solution

June 15, 2005 10:45 AM US Eastern Timezone

Green Armor Solutions (TM) Introduces Identity Cues (TM); Revolutionary Technology Prevents Phishing, Pharming, and Online Fraud - Without Inconveniencing Users

RUTHERFORD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 15, 2005--Green Armor Solutions today announced the availability of its innovative anti-phishing product, Identity Cues. Unlike earlier generations of anti-phishing technology, Identity Cues is simple for enterprises to implement, requires virtually no ongoing maintenance, and, most importantly, makes no significant demands on users. It also seamlessly integrates with existing back-end anti-fraud systems.

Phishing and pharming are forms of online fraud in which criminals impersonate legitimate online enterprises and trick people into divulging confidential information that is then used for executing fraudulent financial transactions, identity theft, or other illegal activity. According to Gartner, about 57 million Americans were targeted for phishing in a recent 12-month period, and phishing-related fraud has already reached $1.2 billion annually.

Green Armor's patent-pending Identity Cues utilizes a unique combination of technology and psychology to combat phishing, pharming, and other forms of online fraud. It proactively informs users whether or not a website truly belongs to the organization that it appears to represent.

Through the use of easily recognizable visual cues that appear during every login, users can quickly, and even subconsciously, recognize whether a site is genuine. Cues are displayed as users type their usernames and passwords; cues vary between users, but are identical on each login for any particular user. Cues are generated using sophisticated underlying technology (invisible to users) that ensures that criminals cannot generate the correct cues for any particular user. Users who access a phishing site will not see their cues and will quickly realize - even while they are still typing - that "something is wrong."

Identity Cues was designed in part by a psychologist, based on established research about the science of learning (including, but not limited to, works by Reigeluth, Woolfolk and Madigan). It enables even untrained users who never make any conscious effort to remember cues to know whether or not they are interacting with an intended legitimate business. Access need not be from one's own computer in order to be secure, and there is no need to verify the identity of a user before presenting a cue. Criminals cannot verify the validity of a username, nor gain any other valuable information from the Identity Cues system.

The release of Green Armor's Identity Cues marks a major step forward in anti-phishing technology. Before its release, anti-phishing technologies typically worked reactively, stopped only some email-based phishing, or inconvenienced users by requiring them to memorize multiple secrets and undergo several extra steps when logging into systems. Many anti-phishing systems have also proven ineffective against pharming and phishing situations in which criminals pilfer sensitive information but do not execute fraudulent financial transactions.

With Green Armor's Identity Cues, organizations can protect themselves and their customers from phishing, pharming, and online fraud in a safe, efficient, and easy to use manner.

Additional information is available from Green Armor Solutions at http://www.greenarmor.com. Inquiries may also be directed to Joseph Steinberg at (201) 801-0383 or joseph-AT-greenarmor.com.

http://www.greenarmor.com/NEWS-2005-06-09.shtml