PayPal introduces OTP dongle in US, Germany and Australia
This post was published 3 years 1 month 4 days ago. Therefore, it is likely to be outdated and may no longer be valid.
If you have a US, German or Australian PayPal account you can sign up for a PayPal Security Key. This additional layer of security means that you have to ‘know’ something (your password) and ‘have’ something (the dongle). The dongle displays a random number every 30 seconds which you need to enter along with your normal credentials.
This is neat but, it’s nothing new — corporate networks have had this in place for years.
What’s really cool, however, is that PayPal is using Verisign’s VIP infrastructure to administer the OTP (One-time Password). This means that the same dongle can be used for any other login that also uses VIP, reducing the need for multiple dongles (a real barrier to OTP uptake).
What’s even cooler is that Verisign’s VIP programme also uses mobiles (via SMS) to generate and distribute OTPs. Expect to see that functionality soon with PayPal.
For more info listen to episode 103 of Security Now when Steve and Leo chat to Michael Vergara, Director of Account Protections at PayPal.
I’m looking forward to the UK roll-out in 2008.
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