Cloners beware, Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. are active with authentication technology-each carrier in two markets.
“We’ve taken the next step from protection to prevention. It’s like a little Fort Knox for your phone,” said Steve Fleischer, general manager of corporate communications for Bell Atlantic Nynex. The company started authentication service May 2 in its New York City and northern New Jersey markets, two of the highest fraud areas in the nation. Bell Atlantic Nynex has 5,000 customers currently protected by authentication, said the company.
AT&T Wireless started authentication service in its New York and south Florida markets at the beginning of the month, with 18,000 users protected as of Friday, said Roseanna DeMaria, vice president of business security. This represents between 10 and 15 percent of all customers in those two markets, added Robin Traum, spokeswoman for AT&T Wireless in New York.
The two carriers lead the market in providing authentication service, which research experts and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association decry as the solution to halting cloning fraud.
Authentication requires a network and the phones operating on it to carry a matching cryptographic algorithm. Each phone bears a unique encrypted key that is programmed only once. When a user initiates a call, the network challenges the phone to verify itself and the phone responds. The phone’s algorithm, electronic serial number-mobile identification number combination and the key all must match the network’s data. The process is instantaneous and transparent to users. Both analog and digital customers can take advantage of the authentication capability.
Aside from the phone, subscribers will pay no more for the authentication capability, said Fleischer, and many users already are equipped. Bell Atlantic Nynex has been selling authentication capable phones from Motorola Inc., Audiovox Corp. and Nokia Mobile Phones since October. AT&T started providing a few authentication capable models more than a year ago.
Equipped with an authentication capable phone, customers no longer need to enter a personal identification number before placing calls, said Fleischer.
The specifications for authentication, which is an open and industry standard, are written into the equipment by the manufacturers. Bell Atlantic Nynex’ suppliers are Motorola and Lucent Technologies Inc.
