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It is the first broking house in S'pore to make it compulsory to use security tokenCIMB Securities has introduced the two-factor authentication (2FA) system for online trades - making it the first broking house in Singapore to implement the extra security feature.mini storageThe 2FA system aims to foil hackers who steal e-banking passwords such as those generated by SMS text messages.It requires investors to use a hardware token which generates a random password that allows them to gain access to their Internet trading accounts.CIMB has 16,000 active online investors, but since the launch of its new iTrade platform last month, it has seen a healthy increase in trading activity by previously dormant investors.Investors can still access their online accounts to get market information or charts using their user name and password but when they want to trade, they must activate the 2FA as an extra security layer, said executive director Andrew Ler."But once an investor authenticates that he's really who he is, then he doesn't have to do so again. He canexecute as many trades as he wants before logging out," he added.The 2FA token, known as OneKey, is similar to those issued by banks.It was developed by Assurity Trusted Solutionsself storage a wholly owned subsi-diary of the Infocomm Development Authority.Seven broking houses in Singapore accept OneKey as their security token but only CIMB Securities has made it mandatory. Assurity said broking houses' 200,000 or so online investors have been slow to adopt OneKey.Brokers believe the threat of online fraud has risen in tandem with the growth of online trading and the popularity of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, but investors are apparently not keen to add one more step to the share dealing process.Ms Melinda Sam, chief executive of the Securities Association (Singapore), said the value of online trading transactions by retail investors jumped 45.7 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of this year.Industry observers say brokers are waiting for the Monetary Authority of Singapore to make OneKey manda-tory.CIMB Securities made its use compulsory when it launched the $3 million revamp of its Internet portal.It has co-located its computers next to Singapore Exchange in the data centre. This means trades can be executed without any lag. The portal has also added advanced charting capabilities that let professional investors do algorithmic trading.chngkeg@sph.com.sgmini storage