Industry analyst firm Gartner, Inc. estimates that cyber criminals have stolen more than $3 billion from banks, business and municipalities in the U.S. using financial malware. The bank will offer its clients IronKey Trusted Access, the award-winning solution that helps prevent identity theft, online account takeover, and payments fraud. By combining Trusted Access with their competitive product offering, Presidio Bank was selected as the winner of the Innovative Community Bank of the Year award by the Western Independent Bankers Association.

Trusted Access also allows the bank to meet and exceed the new Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council (FFIEC) guidance, with which all financial institutions must comply in 2012 to reduce the risk of online banking fraud.

"Trusted Access helps us protect our commercial clients at the point most vulnerable to malware attacks -- the customer's own PC. Its innovative approach to online security is highly valued in our tech-savvy San Francisco market, where clients are aware of online banking fraud risks and selecting financial institutions that are proactively offering the latest technology to protect their assets," said Fred Bailard, EVP at Presidio Bank. "Trusted Access strengthens the bank's growth strategy to be a banking technology leader."

According to real-time research from SpyEye Tracker(1), today's anti-malware software fails to detect crimeware at least 75 percent of time. The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) estimates that 39 percent of all computers are infected with financial malware designed to steal personal and account information. As a result, online banking account takeovers are growing at a rate of 150 percent each year, based on research published by FS-ISAC (Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center).

Unlike other approaches, Trusted Access protects online banking even if a client's computer is infected with the latest zero-day attack that would go undetected by anti-virus and other technologies. The platform provides multiple layers of security by integrating cloud-based network services and software that can be downloaded or run from a secure USB device. When a bank client starts Trusted Access, it launches a protected, virtualized operating system and Web browser that is invulnerable to crimeware on the PC. The secure browser only works with IronKey's Trusted Network and bank-approved sites. Gartner recognizes secure browsing as a critical security control for preventing online banking fraud.

"By using IronKey Trusted Access, Presidio Bank is giving its clients a secure online banking solution that is recognized by new federal guidelines as an effective means to prevent online banking fraud," said Dave Jevans, CTO and founder of IronKey. "The bank is also being proactive by instituting Trusted Access as the security front-end for other new Web-based services, enabling them to aggressively expand their use of the online channel with confidence their clients are protected."

Trusted Access is a combination of software and cloud-based network services. The software is either downloaded or runs from a secure USB device. More information about IronKey's Trusted Access Platform and downloadable secure browser is available online.