the security agent 110 automatically activates after the security agent 110 detects a webpage relating to the on line access transaction for instance the security agent 110 may detect an on line merchant payment webpage by reading the source code of the webpage such as the html code for credit card information e g card type expiry date cvv2 code etc or by reading a trigger such as a header or an identification number embedded in the webpage in another embodiment the user activates the security agent 110 to perform the on line access transaction for instance the user may select a button on the webpage to activate the security agent 110 in a further embodiment the on line merchant or on line service provider activates the security agent 110 and requires the user to use the security agent 110 during the online access transaction in step 310 the security agent 110 establishes a trust with the authentication server 125 in order to validate that the security agent 110 is connecting to the authentication server 125 rather than a rogue server again in this step the security agent 110 opens a connection to the authentication server 125 and sends a nonce to the authentication server 125 thereafter the.