Recently a technique that allows an attacker to mount successful DNS cache poisoning attacks with low complexity tools and low traffic requirements was dicsovered. This technique exploits a weakness in most implementations of the DNS protocol. 

The urgency of patching recursive DNS servers has increased significantly after technical details about this issue were leaked to the public. Proof of concept code has been published on blogs and mailing lists.  In light of these developments, administrators are advised to apply the necessary updates immediately. 

DNS Cache Poisoning – The Problem in a Nutshell

Joe Consumer, using his home banking service, will go onto the requesting DNS server of his Internet Service Provider (ISP) to use his home banking services at his bank’s authenticating DNS server.  Even if his bank and its ISP h ...

From: Patrick Brown, First Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

To: Sixth District Financial Institutions

With another hurricane season approaching, we at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta want to reaffirm we are making every effort to be as prepared as possible to maintain vital financial services regardless of weather conditions or other crisis situations. Along those lines, the Federal Reserve also wants to help you prepare by sending the enclosed contingency information. It is our intent to minimize as much as possible any impact from a crisis on Fed functions, like bank supervision and discount window lending, or on services, like cash, check, and automated clearing house (ACH) processing.

One of the most critical components during a crisis is to have the ability to communicate. The Atlanta Fed’s Web site, which includes the information in this packet, will also ...

On behalf of NACHA's Internet Council, EastPay is seeking participants for a project that is seeking to determine what occurs in the ACH Network when a RDFI asks an ODFI for proof of authorization for a WEB transaction.

We are seeking to briefly interview ODFI and Originators who originate WEB transactions. The interview will only take about 30 minutes and the results will be kept confidential. The purpose of the project is to determine if the NACHA Operating Rules need to be modified to clarifiy the requirements as to what exactly constitutes proof of authorization for a WEB.

If you are interested, please contact Brad Smith at 800-681-4224 x104 or by email at bsmith at eastpay.org.

Mobile payments are gaining momentum and the financial services industry is beginning to seize the opportunity to expand their payment services into the mobile world.

Register and pay for 4 teleseminars and receive the 11/13 “Merchant Experiences with Mobile Commerce” teleseminar for FREE!

Offer good through June 8, 2008. Visit our Mobile Banking Telseminar page for details about the Teleseminars.

ACH Payments up 8.3 Percent in 1st Quarter 2008

ACH Network volume increased by 8.3 percent in the 1st quarter of 2008 compared to the same quarter a year ago, rising to a total of 3,706,595,919 payments. The dollar value of these payments was $7.5 trillion, an increase of 6.6 percent over the 1st quarter figures for 2007.
 

Commercial ACH volume accounted for 92.2 percent of transactions, or 3,417,117,503 payments.  Federal government ACH volume was 289,478,416, which include a significant portion of the tax filing and refund season.
 

The largest growth rate occurred in Point-of-Purchase (POP) transactions, increasing 48.7 percent from the 1st quarter of 2007.  The largest numerical growth occurred in Internet-initiated entries (WEB), increasing by 83.8 million payments over the 1st quarter of 2007.

NACHA Operating Guidelines – Company Name Identification Rule Amendment

 On June 20, 2008, the NACHA Operating Rules will be amended to incorporate clarifications to the definition of the Company Name Field within the Company/Batch Header Record. This Supplement #3-2008 provides updated NACHA Operating Guidelines related to these changes, adding new language to help clarify the proper use of this field. Examples of origination scenarios and the proper use of the Company Name Field in those cases are provided to assist Originators and ODFIs in properly identifying Originators of ACH payments.


Formal Rules Interpretation – Proper Use of SEC Codes and Aggregation of Transactions

On March 20, 2008, NACHA’s Board of Directors approved a delay in the implementation date of the Formal Rules Interpretat ...

On Tuesday, April 29, 2008, the NACHA Voting Membership approved three ballots on amendments to the NACHA Operating Rules.  The amendments are Category C (Minor Impact) Issues – Ballot #2-08 (June 20, 2008 Implementation), Ballot #3-08 (September 19, 2008 Implementation) and Ballot #4-08 (March 20, 2009 Implementation).  

All three ballots were approved with identical votes of 100 percent of the weighted votes cast (9,171 votes approving), and 100 percent of members voting (39 members approving).  The ballots were not vetoed by either of the membership classes.