In keeping with Kotak Securities' commitment to provide optimal online security for its customer to increase the safety of online trading, the Security Key solution uses the concept of a dual password system. The security key generates a dynamic and unique six-digit password every time it is switched on. The customer has to login with his ID, password and this dynamic code to be able to transact online. It is a user-friendly product enabling risk-based authentication that allows Kotak Securities to apply an appropriate level of security and reduces the chances of fraudulent practices.

According to Mr. D. Kannan, Executive Director, Kotak Securities Ltd., "At Kotak Securities, we understand the importance of safeguarding the investments of our customers; and that is precisely what a trusted security expert, such as Entrust will do, to boost the confidence of our customers and instill trust in our brand."

"Risk-based authentication - even via a Security Key - shouldn't be cost prohibitive," said Entrust Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bill Conner. "Enabling secure transactions through the online channel creates greater safety for both the organization and the customer. By offering strong authentication to its customers, Kotak proactively protects its customers and its brand online, and we applaud them for that."

Mr. Ramesh Lakshminarayanan, Group Head of IT & Infrastructure, Kotak Mahindra Group, speaking about the implementation, said, "Kotak always has been attracted to the strong level of security that hardware Security Keys provide, and now that they are available at a cost efficient price from Entrust we can employ one of the strongest methods of authentication available."

Separately, In 2007, the Chilean government issued a mandate - the first in the world to have a strong enforcement clause - that all financial institutions implement strong two-factor authentication to help secure electronic transfers.

As many banks scrambled to comply, 10 of the top 16 banks in the country opted for an easy-to-use, easy-to-integrate solution from Entrust, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENTU), the Entrust IdentityGuard versatile authentication platform. The successive customer wins not only created strong momentum for the platform in Chile, but also across South America.

"As banks in Chile were required to comply with the government-issued mandate, we found the versatility, ease of use and efficiency of Entrust's strong authentication solution to be the right choice as we integrated two-factor authentication," said Sebastian Covarrubias, Manager of Marketing and Products at Banco Security. "The platform's versatility and interoperability allows us to address both current and future needs as we evaluate the risks of the transactions our customers choose to execute with us online."

During the first quarter of 2007, the Chilean government issued legislation that required banks to comply with three new rules to help protect online transactions. The first, which is already in place, mandated that the financial institutions implement two-factor authentication for all electronic transfers by January 2008. Many organizations have yet to comply and are forced to pay fines. The two remaining rules have yet to be finalized and approved.

Trusted partner NeoSecure was instrumental in the procurement and deployment of the Entrust IdentityGuard versatile authentication platform. The value-added reseller - a MSSP and security solutions provider that services Latin America - provided many of the banks with a turn-key solution that involved production of the grid cards and other professional services to help facilitate a seamless integration into the banks' secure environments.

"We've enjoyed a strong, successful relationship with Entrust for many years," said Eduardo Diaz, Chief Executive Officer at NeoSecure. "The versatile authentication platform's mass-scale adoption in Chile marks exciting growth for Entrust, NeoSecure and the security market in South America."

At the core of their Entrust IdentityGuard deployment, Banco Security leveraged the versatile authentication platform's grid card solution to help verify the identities of over 17,600 customers. Banco Security has nine offices in Santiago, Chile, four regional branches, but predominantly provides its services through electronic channels, which made the need for strong multifactor authentication a priority.

"Two of our biggest competitors already were entrenched in the Chilean market for enterprise authentication when this regulation was published, but the financial institutions needed a solution that could be deployed quickly and be intuitively used by their customers, as well as be cost effective for deployment on a mass scale," said Entrust Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Conner. "We applaud these elite banks, as well as our partner NeoSecure, for proactively implementing a solution that can scale to meet the growing threats to their customers. The door now is open to put even greater security measures in place, such as digital signatures and zero-touch fraud detection."

In 2006, Chilean-based Banco Santander was the first to deploy Entrust IdentityGuard through NeoSecure, even before the Chilean government mandates were in place. The world's 12th-largest bank, Banco Santander increased their Entrust IdentityGuard grid authentication plans to include more than 680,000 customers. Part of the Santander Group, one of the largest financial groups in the world, Banco Santander originally considered expensive competitive third- party one-time-passcode (OTP) hardware tokens, but concluded that this option would have been far too expensive for their customers.

The mandate, outlined in the document titled "Chapter1-7, Electronic Transfers of Information and Funds," was enacted by the Superintendencia de Bancos e Instituciones Financieras Chile, which regulates banks and financial institutions in Chile. From an enforcement perspective, it is one of the strongest regulations in the world to help financial institutions better secure their customers.

"While other governments and regulatory bodies around the world have mandated some kind of stronger authentication for financial institutions, the Chilean regulation definitely has the most effective 'teeth' for motivating compliance and the use of something stronger than a homegrown solution," added Conner. "It's one of the most progressive mandates we've seen in the authentication space."