ASG Software Solutions helps PH firms respond to security concerns

IN THE wake of the Bangladesh Central Bank heist, ASG Software Solutions (ASG), which provides workforce productivity software to top corporations, is stepping into the limelight to reveal its expertise in creating a tough and secure environment for your money.

The US-based firm, which boasts of over a hundred clients in the Philippines alone, including 80 percent of the top 20 corporate earners, hopes to help put depositors’ mind at ease after the hacking scandal.

In a recent interview with the Inquirer, ASG General Manager for Asia Pacific Praveen Kumar cited three key areas where his company can restore bank depositors’ confidence in the system.

For those who are wary of transacting on both mobile and online, ASG shared what it offers corporations to help them achieve a hack-free account by using three “key” factors.

The first key is to enter your username and password, which you normally use to log on to your account, into an application.

Second, the mobile app will generate a random and unique token composed of a four to five digit combination, which according to Kumar is based on your time and location and changes after 30 seconds so that consumers will not have similar codes.

“You have to place that code after entering your ID and password, without which, you cannot get into your banking account. Which means even if I have your ID and password, I can’t log in because that key is on your mobile,” said Kumar.

But if somehow the hacker found a way to download the application and got hold of your ID and password, the third key factor comes into play – a one-time password that will be sent to your mobile phone after you enter the authentication codes.

“Even if I have the application, I can’t get the third factor unless I have your phone because it will be sent to your number and all three keys should be entered at the same moment,” Kumar said, “now I’ve made life very difficult for the hacker.”

But as a consumer, you also have to go through the same process every time you want to access your own account, which is a very laborious task.

But then again it is part of moves to prevent fraud. Banks take this seriously because they are responsible for taking care of depositors’ money.

They can’t simply say “someone else did it”.

Since its work is relegated to the background, Chuck Neal, EVP for Sales and Services of ASG, refers to the company as a “well-kept secret.”

“We’re doing a lot of things that are of high value to big brands but not everyone in town is aware of it,” Neal said.

But according to him, they find their current situation exciting because there is a certain thrill that comes from competing with start-up companies who have lots of hype about what they can potentially do.

“They have a lot of roar but not a lot of substance and we suffer the opposite problem because we’re a company with real customers, with real product, with real value, but the most we could do is meow,” he said.

ASG is now trying to change that image.

“We play a really big role in this market and the brands that you rely on as a citizen here are influenced by our participation, and we think that’s kind of neat,” Neal told the Inquirer.