UK banking group HSBC is rolling out technology from California-based digital security firm VeriSign to help online customers identify fake sites run by identity thieves and phishers.Verisign says the bank is deploying its extended validation (EV) SSL certificates which cause the URL address bar in a Web browser to turn green when a site is deemed authentic.
A lock icon appears next to the address and a new field - containing HSBC's and VeriSign's names - appears to the right of the URL.
Barry Jones, senior manager, group IT security, HSBC, says: "Deploying VeriSign extended validation SSL certificates will allow us to send an instantly recognisable signal - the reassuring green bar - to our online banking customers, confirming that any personal information they supply on that page will go directly to HSBC and no one else."
Last week online payments outfit PayPal called for wider up-take of EV SSL certificates and warned that it might block old browsers, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4, that don't support the technology from its site.
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