Over 1500 user accounts faced a security risk last year.
Residents of Singapore will be able use two-factor authentication to secure online transactions with the government from July this year.
Last year, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) said that 1560 SingPass accounts used to authenticate online transactions, such as tax filing and social security, may have been accessed without the users’ permission.
A tender for the two-factor authentication technology was awarded to Assurity Trusted Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IDA, this month, an IDA spokesperson said.
Along with the password to their SingPass accounts, users will have to enter a second password delivered to them at the time of the transaction.
In case of sensitive transactions, users will have to use a hardware token supplied by Assurity to get the second password. In other cases, they could have the password delivered to their registered mobile number. The government is deciding which services will need the use of a token, the IDA said in November.
For the first year, people can choose whether they want to use the two-factor authentication for SingPass, IDA has said. The government will then use data collected during this period to decide if it should continue to be a choice or will be mandatory for all.
SingPass is used by 3.3 million people to access 350 online government services in Singapore.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Medha Basu
Quelle/Source: futureGov, 23.02.2015
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