Online banking security is of the utmost importance to modern consumers because the frequency of identity theft is a big problem these days. When consumers go to access their banking information they must pass through a password protected website, and in many cases there may be several pages they must visit before they can actually see their account info. Strong authentication is the preferred method of protecting data for banks and other financial institutions, and there are several components that go into this type of security measure.

There are several definitions for strong authentication but in most cases, when people use this term, they are referring to two-factor authentication, or more generally multi-factor authentication. It is important to remember that having a multiple-factor authentication for online banking security does not necessarily mean the authentication can be referred to as “strong.” A consumer may be asked to answer several challenge questions, for instance, which may be considered “strong,” but it is only considered to be “multi-factor” if the process is also used to retrieve “something you have” or “something you are.”

The idea of strong authentication may sound complicated due to the confusing verbiage, but it is actually a pretty simple idea. When a consumer enters a password protected website before accessing their bank information, they will be precisely authenticated based on a challenge response protocol. This may be just a username and password, but these days the authentication is generally only considered to be “strong” if there are questions that the individual must answer. In this case there might not even be a password required, but the user may have to answer questions such as their mother’s maiden name, the city they were born in, they city their father lives in, and the name of their paternal or maternal grandfather or grandmother.

Even if all these authentication processes sound complex and confusing, all you really need to understand as a consumer is that they are in place to protect your identity and secure your financial information. Online banking security is crucial to modern commerce and it is good to know that there are highly advanced systems in place to avoid theft and compromise of secured information.