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Knoppix Used in Internet Banking Solution

Posted by samzenpus on from the open-banking dept.

renai42 writes "Australian company Cybersource says it's currently talking to two domestic banks about providing Knoppix-based bootable CDs to consumers to ensure Internet banking security. The company says at least one bank will probably use the CDs in at least one sector of its operations. Cybersource envisages that banks will re-brand its product and provide the CDs alongside other marketing material."

6 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. Credit Card CDs would be better by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Boot from a tiny partition of Linux on a CC sized cd. Give it duel use and let all customers have it available.

    The other security features on the credit card could be put onto the CD to ensure authenticity.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. Great Idea but... by shashark · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Cds can be as small as your credit card, besides being much more secure.

    But wait, how will one patch the CDs in case any security holes are found ? Rewritable CDs wont help either...

  3. Could be good, probably will be bad by 2ksilver · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If implemented properly, this would be a great thing. Assuming they can get around the wide range of hardware people use, without requiring much technological knowledge from the user, this is a much more secure way than windows. Keep in mind that the same people who are infected with 1000x spyware programs and don't seem to care are the same kind of people who have little idea how a computer works. This would have to be as user-friendly as possible to not scare off users or prevent people from using it. I bet this fails, but someone else takes the idea and makes a better version of it and it will take off. Does the average user know how to boot from a CD?

  4. The love/hate relationship with Knoppix... by EmagGeek · · Score: 3, Interesting

    At my company, they recently fired someone one the spot for possessing a Knoppix CD. My company views Knoppix as a hacker toolkit and nothing else. Anyone caught possessing or downloading Knoppix is fired immediately, complete with security escort to the door.

    Other places LOVE it... it's handy, useful, and easy to transport.

    I think one thing that would help this idea a lot would be if the CD booted into a VM. That way users would not have to do a hard restart.. just load the bootable CD into a VM and kill the VM when they're done...

  5. Re:Convenience vs. Security by natrius · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Didn't someone mention a live CD that could autorun itself in QEMU when inserted in a Windows computer? That seems like it would be the perfect solution to me. No need to worry about hardware variability, and you'd be able to do all your banking in a virus-free virtual machine.

  6. Great Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have been using Knoppix for all our banking since AVG found a Keystroke logger on my Wife's PC. KNOPPIX ROCKS. I also use it at Hotels where they have Business Center PC's.
    Knoppix is not just a good start, it is a GREAT start to solving the problems of infected Client PC's. Every boot is a clean install, and user settings CAN be saved to the HD if you really want.