In many cases, banks are replacing their older hardware (often “dumb” terminals), branch applications, and operating systems (such as OS/2 and DOS) with new technologies based on Windows and Intel-based PCs. The older environments often made it difficult for banks to add new functionality or to support a variety of user interfaces, such as browsers to enable employees to access necessary customer-service applications. New branch applications often require browsers, Java applets, and other types of component plug-ins.
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Source: Bank Info Security