E-Trade on Tuesday announced it would soon offer its best customers a free two-factor authentication token to beef up security on their computers against phishing and other identity theft attacks.

The token, which uses RSA's SecurID two-factor authentication technology, will debut in the second quarter, said E-Trade, which will offer them to its Power and Priority customers, those who have more than $50,000 in combined E-Trade account assets.

E-Trade's new security hardware is a small device about the side of a flash drive or memory stick which then generates a six-digit code that changes every 60 seconds. The customer uses this code, along with the usual user ID and password, to access accounts.

Such one-time passwords are an attempt to block the kind of identity theft increasingly used by phishers, who are turning to spyware-style key loggers and screen grabbers to snatch traditional log-in IDs and passwords without the user's knowledge.

More information about E-Trade's offer, and an order form for the token, can be found on the New York-based online broker's Web site.