New verification system cuts clunky Active-X

An alternative to the online verification system reliant on the problematic Active-X security plugin has finally been developed.

The new system will use a smartphone’s fingerprint scanner and will be available in January, the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) said on Thursday.

In order to make any kind of online transaction in Korea, from buying clothes to checking bank statements, consumers have to use a password, which they create after verifying their identity online.

But until now, that verification could only happen on a desktop on which the Active-X plugin was installed and had to be done through the Internet Explorer browser.

The created password could then be used on mobile devices, but the whole verification process had to be repeated every year.

The new system uses a smartphone app, which registers a user’s fingerprint and then allows the user to scan rather than input a password.

The system will only work on the latest smartphones that have fingerprint recognition technology.

KISA plans to launch a trial service in January in collaboration with KG Mobilians, one of the largest electronic payment system operators in Korea. If the system proves successful, KISA will expand the number of users.

Last year, the government approved the development of alternative self-verification systems, but this is the first system to have been developed.

President Park Geun-hye first raised the issue last year, after Chinese K-drama fans had trouble buying a coveted coat worn by Jun Ji-hyun in her hit drama “My Love from the Star,” largely because of the self-verification system. The system discourages mobile shoppers both at home and abroad from buying Korean products, she said, and could eventually hurt Korean exports.

BY KIM JI-YOON [kim.jiyoon@joongang.co.kr]