How Singapore Tackles Online Frauds

There are more online transactions are being done online today. It’s convenient for consumers and unfortunately, also for the hackers. We usually only require a password to transact online.

But to battle the increasing number of online frauds, there is a need for a Second Factor Authentication. It is usually done through a token or a one-time password sent to the user’s phone to authenticate a transaction (see right for example).

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) today announced Assurity Trusted Solutions Pte Ltd to be the National Authentication Framework (NAF) operator for Second Factor Authentication.

Assurity will own the NAF infrastructure and offer NAF 2FA services to Service Providers (SPs) and consumers at a national level. Assurity is expected to start rolling out its service to Service Providers in the second half of 2011. ST Electronics has been appointed to design, build, operate and maintain the NAF infrastructure for Assurity. Service providers, such as online retailers will be able to enjoy this security system for the initial two years upon commercial availability.

“The availability of online services in Singapore has been increasing and more people are transacting online today. For instance, the percentage of online shoppers has increased from 17% in 2003 to 40% in 2009. When the NAF service is rolled out, it will provide the public and businesses with a convenient, trusted and cost effective means to better secure online transactions,” said Ronnie Tay, CEO, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.

Online fraud is also a prominent problem in China. Phishing sites alone had stolen a total of $3 billion from the Chinese population. Phishing is a process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising as a trustworthy website. As China’s e-commerce is growing at lightning speed, its online security features simply can’t keep up to its growth.

The introduction of Assurity and NFA ensures online security feature is on par with e-commerce growth in Singapore. I believe security is part of the ‘to-do-list’ as Singapore aims to be a high-tech society.