First Direct now offering Rapport security software

First Direct have recently teamed up with Trusteer to offer their ‘Rapport’ online fraud protection software to their online banking users. Additionally, for every user who downloads the software via their site, First Direct will donate £1 to the Childline Charity. First Direct are the 6th major bank to offer this link-up service with Rapport, joining the ranks of Alliance & Leicester, Coventry Building Society, HSBC, Natwest and the Royal Bank of Scotland

Whilst internet security software such as Kaspersky will provide protection against viruses and hacking, Rapport adds an additional layer of security by securing the communication between your internet browser and online banking service.

When you browse to your online banking site, the Rapport plug-in immediately locks down the browser, and prevents any unauthorized access to web pages and sensitive information that flow through the browser. This lockdown is achieved through a combination of access control, encryption, and verification technologies that take place in the background, and are completely transparent to the user.

The service helps prevent malware known as Man-in-the-Browser from accessing the browser itself, as well as keystrokes typed into the browser, and communication that enters and leaves the browser. While the browser is locked down, malware cannot read the content of web pages, or information entered into these websites. Malware cannot tamper with web pages or web communication.

In addition to locking down the browser, Rapport also locks down communication with the website. It authenticates the website, and forces end-to-end secure communication with the website. This communication lockdown prevents both Man-in-the-middle and phishing attacks, and prevents criminals from accessing sensitive web communication.

Unauthorized attempts to access the browser or its communication are automatically reported to the Trusteer service, and allows their team of specialists to analse this information from customers all over the world, in order to identify new attack patterns.