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PayPal Grinds Out New Security Key
David Utter
Staff Writer
2007-02-12
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PayPal and eBay users will be able to enhance their online security on those sites by adopting the forthcoming PayPal Security Key.
 | | PayPal Grinds Out New Security Key |  |
The new key will provide a second factor of authentication when logging into either PayPal or its parent company, eBay. A six-figure security code generated every 30 seconds expires once it is used to login to the sites.
They plan to charge a one-time $5 fee for the security key. PayPal said on its website that the fee would be waived for its business account holders.
The key itself will be small enough to fit on a typical keyring. People who access the Internet from multiple computers will be able to carry that protection with them from home to work and other places.
PayPal and eBay have long been favorite phishing targets for criminals. Once authenticated into those systems through stolen credentials, thieves have access to plenty of valuable financial data like credit card numbers or bank accounts.
Adding a second factor should help against some of the phishing schemes floating around the Internet today. But two-factor authentication is not a panacea against man in the middle attacks.
With a 30-second buffer for generating a new key, a man in the middle page could grab all three credentials (username, password, and security key) and pass them along to PayPal or eBay. A sophisticated attack would send the user along, after grabbing that financial information from the account.
While the PayPal Security Key should be a helpful measure, it does not replace the responsibility of the user to avoid clicking on suspicious links in phishing attempts.
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Tag: PayPal
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About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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