The Alternative Press

Earlier this year, Valley National Bank, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY), announced the addition of Trusteer Rapport security software to its consumer online banking platform, VBankWorks®, and its business online banking platforms, VNB Connect® and VNB Connect Plus® to help protect against fraudulent attacks.

“The ‘bad guys’ are constantly developing new strategies to attack business and consumer bank accounts,” said Michael Livni, Valley’s Chief Information Security Officer.  “That is why we are constantly reviewing and upgrading our defenses.”

Incorporating the use of the Trusteer Rapport software will further enhance the online banking experience for personal and business customers by offering added protection against fraudulent activity. Trusteer Rapport is specifically designed to help prevent criminals from accessing online bank accounts by locking down the user’s browser as it connects to Valley National Bank’s website. Once the browser is locked down, Trusteer Rapport will help protect sensitive information and transactions from financial malware by locking down communication between the user’s browser and the bank, helping to prevent criminals from diverting traffic to fraudulent websites.

Small businesses must take every precaution to protect against fraud as well.  Although the bank may be well protected against electronic intrusions, small businesses and individual customers often do not have the sophisticated security systems that banks and other large companies do, which represents a weak spot that malware and malicious programs can exploit. Since 2006, Valley has also issued hardware tokens to commercial customers, with passwords that change every 60 seconds.  The token is a user-operated security device, which displays a password that must be entered before the user can access the bank’s cash management system.

“The tokens alone may not provide enough protection against the latest generation of malware,” added Mr. Livni. To increase the level of security on customers’ accounts, Valley will rely on Trusteer Rapport to help further disable browser-based and other malware attacks.

“Valley’s investment in Trusteer Rapport is a direct investment in our customers’ online security,” remarked Mr. Livni.  “This innovative and highly reputable security software adds a significant measure of safety for all online banking users and it also is a measure of Valley’s commitment to protecting our customers’ personal and financial information.”

VBankWorks and VNB Connect customers can download Trusteer Rapport, absolutely free, by visiting the VBankWorks or VNB Connect login page and following the instructions for installation.  Trusteer Rapport takes only seconds to download and never has to be reconfigured.  For more information about Trusteer Rapport, visit http://www.trusteer.com or call Valley’s 24/7 Customer Service Center at 800-522-4100.