Coming Soon: Internet Banking

A tiny Kentucky bank, working with a high-tech company that builds computer security systems for the Defense Department, is poised to offer Internet banking that it says will be safe from hackers.

The program will let computer users open an account, check balances, and make payments. It will be one of the first full-service banking programs available on the Internet.

Cardinal Bancshares Inc., a community bank in Lexington, Ky. with $600 million in assets, is offering full-service banking protected by software that camouflages sensitive data and demands passwords from anyone trying to get at it.