Also got an institutional account. I already have the STP for withdrawals. I wasn't clear to me from the email - but is the device that will be used to authenticate TWS logins be the same that we already use to authenticate withdrawal wire transfers? I.e. I don't need any extra device or hardware from IB at this point?
Just wondering - how is this device delivered to the IB account holder? Is it mailed to you or do you have to go to the nearest IB office and pick it up yourself?
You managed to revive an antiquated stereotype about the hearing and vision impaired while declaring me "dumb" for expecting proactive communication from a major financial institution. Wow, nice one! If you think that having this two-factor authentication actually does anything to improve end-to-end security, you have been drinking way too much of the punch. The one and only reason IB is deploying this infrastructure is to put an X in a box next to the words "Two Factor Authentication". It is unacceptable to force technology on customers, most especially while ignoring the end-to-end use case. It is insane to do it without giving sufficient notice to your customers. Fifteen years of technology experience tells me that this mandate has "death march" written all over it. Interactive Brokers used to be a dynamic company. What a shame. Even ETrade had the common sense to make the program voluntary for customers who want it. Chew on this one for a while OldTrader: What would you do if every company you transact with electronically wanted you to carry around their special magic "secure" token with you? A token for the bank, brokerage, 401k, DMV, grocery store, pharmacy, doctor, insurance, dry cleaner, Medicare, IRS, and SSA? Sounds pretty great eh? Keep track of all of these different tokens and get hacked anyway! If you just bend over and accept whatever your vendors want to give you in the name of "security", well you are going to get "it". To quote Congressman Boehner, I personally think that this implementation is a "piece of s**t". I do not want it, and I am not going to have it, one way or another. Perhaps one of the helpful IB people lurking on ET will care enough to pass that up the food chain. (No sarcasm intended, they are generally helpful).
OMG... Don't give any of these "outfits" any ideas here now... I see the future coming and it looks like a token festival...
I don't mind a security device but I hate the one from IB. The buttons are tiny and very hard to press. I like the timed devices that don't require entering a pin into the device. by the way, the device I have is the original one IB handed out years ago. They are small enough to put on your keychain. The newer ones are larger (it's probabaly why the OP complained). Trust me, the newer ones are easier to use.
I wish IB gave a little more notice about this switchover than a single week. I left my device at home in another city while Im away and I didn't plan on going back for a couple more weeks. Looks like im going to have to make a phone call every time I want to log into IB.
Time-synchronized tokens vs challenge&response systems have different trade offs. Time-synchronized: plus: smaller form factor, easier to use minus: shorter life span as battery runs down faster and subject to time drift defects (though the server "corrects" for it by observing the drift in the codes you enter assuming you use it more than once every few months) minus: subject to potential keylogging attacks (imagine a trojan that grabs your keyed in code, sends off to an attack server, and crashes your PC so the attack server logs in with your code within the few minutes for which the code is valid) Challenge & Response: The exact opposite of the above. Personally, I can't fault IB for choosing a challenge & response system. I actually prefer them for the added security. Also note that the Safeword Gold & Platinum support both modes, but the keychain version only supports time synchronized.