Technology

How do we do it?

Ancora Online stores a “computer caller ID” in the motherboard of the computer. This is enabled by the patented BIOS Advantage (US Patent 6,411,941), the foundation of all current and future Ancora Technologies products.

During a login attempt the bank server will try to match the login information with the Ancora “computer caller ID” to verify the authenticity of the user. The “computer caller ID” is a computer specific digital signature encrypted with the computer’s electronic profile.

As an added security measure Ancora will renew the “computer caller ID” invisibly and automatically at a set period of time.

A hacker’s login attempt with a stolen login ID from his computer will be rejected by the bank server because his computer will lack the computer specific Ancora “caller ID”.

Verification

Ancora Online is deployed over the web as a client with a small footprint during the enrollment process.

Each time the customer requests the bank’s login page a challenge is generated and embedded in it (step 1).

When the page is received by the customer’s browser, Ancora Online detects the embedded challenge and generates a response, based on the “computer caller ID” stored in the BIOS (step 2), and sends it securely to the bank’s server.

The customer performs a normal login (step 3)

The bank’s server logs the response so when the user submits the login page it can verify the user’s authenticity by matching the response with the customer’s known “computer caller ID” stored in the bank’s database during the enrollment process (step 4).

Only a successful match signals the bank’s server to proceed with the online session.

Enrolling a computer is simple

Once a customer establishes an online bank account and receives his or her User ID and Password the bank will also issue an Initial Enrollment Code (IEC).

The computer enrollment is initiated the first time a customer logs into the bank’s web site. At this time the Ancora Client is automatically downloaded and installed on the designated computer. Immediately after installation, the Ancora Client requests the IEC received from the bank and presents it to the bank server which, in turn, generates the “computer caller ID” signature and sends it back to the Ancora Client to be stored in the customer’s computer BIOS.

More than one computer can be enrolled for each account, limited only by the bank’s business rules. For the highest degree of convenience, Ancora also allows users to self-enroll additional computers beyond the initial ones, anytime thereafter.

Privacy

The customer's privacy is as important to Ancora as security and convenience. Ancora implements measures to prevent third parties from misusing its "computer caller ID" to invade a customer's privacy and track his activity on the Internet.

Standard Encryption

Ancora uses industrial strength standard encryption algorithms for the challenge-response, digital signatures and secure communication purposes.

Ancora system components

Ancora deliverables include the Ancora Bank Server, the Ancora Client and the Ancora SDK.

The Ancora Server is installed inside the bank’s server farm and integrates with the online banking system via a local Web Service. The Ancora Server contains its own database therefore it requires no interactions with the banks existing database.

The Ancora Client is designed to achieve 100% compatibility with the PC installed base and does not require any additional hardware or modifications to the BIOS.

The Ancora SDK includes detailed documentation and code samples of how to create a front end for the different Ancora functionality. A minimal modification to the existing online banking login module may be required.

Compatible with Trusted Computing

The Ancora Client is designed to take advantage of Trusted Computing Architecture (TCPA) which the computer industry has just begun adopting. The same Ancora Client will work on both TPM and non-TPM platforms.