Egg's IT chief seeks to reassure on Passport

NEWS Egg has sought to reassure users over its IT security after many of its customers threatened to leave the online bank because of its decision to use Microsoft Passport. Dana Cuffe, CIO of Egg, told silicon.com that Egg would never install a system that hadn't been tested against the most rigorous standards. "Let's be clear about this," he said. "Egg is committed to Microsoft's .NET strategy, and part of that is clearly Passport - but we will not roll out software that will in any way risk the security of Egg customers. "We understand users' concerns over Passport - we share those concerns. That is why we are committed to working with Microsoft until the product reaches a standard where it is safe enough to use. Egg would never commit to something less secure than it already has - it would be ridiculous for us to do so." Cuffe assured a secure Passport was in its customers' interests, as it will make using the web easier for Egg users and other surfers. He assured that Egg's concerns over Passport were the reason it did not have a steadfast plan for implementation - it wanted to see its concerns addressed before it planned the roll-out. The bank issued a statement yesterday, in a further attempt at clarification: "We are currently investigating the possibilities presented by .NET and MS Passport, but we are also fully aware of its current limitations. Egg can categorically confirm that it will not implement Passport until all such issues are resolved." Egg also denies it is seeking to replace one of its current security products - Entrust's GetAccess - with Microsoft's system. The bank has been forced to reassure users due to the strength of customers' reactions to the Passport plan. silicon.com has also learned that Egg's customer service staff have been fielding a stream of calls from worried users seeking clarification following our story earlier this week.