STE WILLIAMS

TORONTO, Canada, September 9, 2013 – SecureKey, the leading provider of trusted identity networks, today announced it is adding FIDO specification support to its briidge.nettrade cloud-based authentication platform to expand the range of hardware-based authenticators that can be used with the service. With the addition of FIDO specification support, briidge.net customers will have the option of employing briidge.net DNA-enabled devices, as well as any FIDO-enabled authenticator, including biometrics and secure USB devices. SecureKey also announced that it has joined the FIDO Alliance as a Sponsor Level member.

“Adding FIDO specification support to our cloud-based service will enable us to provide additional value to our customers by offering more choice of hardware authenticators supported across multiple channels and use cases with our authentication platform,” said Andre Boysen, executive vice president of marketing for SecureKey. “By extending our current key management infrastructure based on the Global Platform standard to support FIDO-specified server key management, we can enable a broader range of identity and authentication solutions combining multiple authentication factors.

“Additionally, we believe FIDO-enabled credentials will provide another source of strong what-you-have factors to be federated over an open network of trusted identity providers and relying parties, using the briidge.net Exchange platform. We are optimistic that FIDO specifications can help accelerate the movement away from users having many weak credentials to fewer, stronger, and more convenient credentials.”

According to Boysen, SecureKey’s FIDO-enabled solution will provide the additional benefit of being cloud-based, eliminating the need for many web sites to purchase and operate their own individual FIDO-enabled servers.

SecureKey’s participation in the alliance ties directly with its values and philosophy concerning user privacy. The company has already taken an active role in the FIDO Alliance, establishing itself in a Leadership Position in the FIDO Privacy Working Group, and lending its expertise in ensuring identity privacy by design to help ensure that user privacy is maintained within the context of the FIDO protocol.

“The FIDO Alliance and SecureKey share a vision of strong authentication for a broad range of identity and payment applications – in fact, better authentication that is at once more secure, private and easy-to-use,” said Michael Barrett, president of the FIDO Alliance. “We welcome SecureKey to the FIDO Alliance as a Sponsor member and look to SecureKey for its expertise in protecting user identity information. SecureKey is dedicated to user privacy and confidentiality, and contributing to a core value and characteristic of the FIDO specifications: ensuring user privacy.”

The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance was formed in July 2012 to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication devices as well as the problems users face with creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords. The alliance seeks to change the nature of authentication by developing specifications that define an open, scalable and interoperable set of mechanisms that supplant reliance on passwords to securely authenticate users of online services. This new standard for security devices and browser plug-ins will allow any web site or cloud application to utilize a variety of existing and future FIDO-enabled devices that the user has for online security.

“SecureKey’s proven experience in the payment industry infrastructure is essential to accelerate FIDO adoption by service providers. With briidge.net robustness and multiple certifications, SecureKey will bring a key element to the FIDO Alliance,” said Sebastien Taveau, CTO at Validity Inc., a founding member of the FIDO Alliance. “SecureKey has been recognized as a privacy leader in identity and authentication, and will play a key role in the Privacy Working Group to gather user trust and adoption. Coupled with strong local authentication such as fingerprints, service providers can now provide new experiences to their users while increasing the security of the whole ecosystem.”

About SecureKey Technologies Inc.

SecureKey is the leading provider of cloud-based, trusted identity networks that eliminate the burden, cost, and risks associated with user authentication. The company’s federated authentication solutions ensure that users are properly authenticated regardless of the service, device or credential they prefer to use. Organizations can quickly and easily deliver high-value online services to millions of consumers and citizens with improved transaction privacy, simplicity, and convenience. SecureKey is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and San Francisco. The company is backed by a world-class group of venture and corporate investors. For additional information, please visit www.securekey.com.

Article source: http://www.darkreading.com/end-user/securekey-to-add-fido-specification-supp/240160999