Banco Sabadell to introduce digital signatures to email
10/02/2006
- The measure in question is part of the Technological Security Master Plan and the set of security improvements which Banco Sabadell frequently applies to its remote banking service
- The first of its kind in Spain, the initiative constitutes a key innovation in the digital identity era, and will be reinforced by the emergence of electronic DNIs (national ID documents).
Banco Sabadell, Spain’s fourth-ranked banking group, is using state-of-the-art technology with a view to preventing online fraud. The project, which is breaking new ground in Spain, consists of the secure signature of email messages sent to the financial institution’s customers and suppliers, in such a way that the recipients can be certain that those messages have actually originated from the Bank.
Developed by netfocus, the technological subsidiary of the Banco Sabadell Group, the solution involves a renowned certification authority validating the Bank’s digital identity, which is subsequently used for the purpose of signing email.
A pilot project is taking place throughout September, and the intention is for the secure cryptographic certificate to be deployed on a huge scale in all communication with customers over the course of the coming financial years.
The deployment strategy for the solution involves the initial application thereof to email sent to customers periodically, such as regular updates on news and new developments, as well as to specific campaigns undertaken and notices issued via the same medium. The plan is to go on to use the solution for notifications corresponding to alert services at a later date, and to eventually extend it to encompass all other relevant electronic messaging.
The application will not only be used to validate outgoing messages, but also for the validation of emails signed by customers, including those received by the Customer Service Centre, in accordance with current legislation.
The system’s security is based on two main factors. Firstly, an electronic signature technically guarantees that the content of the corresponding message has not been altered en route from the sender to the recipient. Secondly, as a result of the sender using a digital certificate issued by a trusted certification authority, the recipient is guaranteed that the message has really been sent by the party shown as the sender thereof.
About Banco Sabadell
Banco Sabadell, a company quoted on the IBEX 35, heads Spain’s fourth-ranked banking group, which, besides the Bank itself, comprises various companies, subsidiaries and holdings.
With total assets worth in excess of 60 billion euros and a market capitalisation of over 8.7 billion euros, Banco Sabadell currently employs more than 9,500 people, most of whom work to cater for the financial needs of professionals, small and medium-sized companies, and individuals in the medium and high income brackets. To that end, the Bank boasts an extensive commercial range that encompasses multiple brands and channels, and which, historically, has always been notable for its capacity for innovation and its intensive use of information technologies.
There are currently considerably more than 1,100 branches in the commercial network of Banco Sabadell and its group, enabling the financial institution to be present throughout Spain and in a further 20 countries.
- More information: http://www.bancosabadell.com