TORONTO-Wireless security software developer Diversinet Corp. announced a deal licensing VeriSign Inc. to distribute Diversinet’s suit of “mobile tokens” and authentication services.
VeriSign will market the wireless technology to banks, retailers, online service providers and other businesses through its Unified Authentication offering. The “soft tokens” are compliant with Open AuTHentication (OATH) and can be used in lieu of standard hardware tokens, allowing customers a choice when deploying two-factor authentication across their networks with mobile phones, personal digital assistants or PCs. The software is designed to incorporate One Time Password functionality into devices, simplifying the deployment of secure access to resources over the Internet.
“Globally, the markets for hardware authentication, mobile device security, and identity and access management is expected to reach over $5 billion by 2008,” said Joe Greene, vice president for IT Security Research at IDC Canada. “OATH-compliant soft token solutions extend two-factor authentication support through devices that are in common use, such as mobile phones, PDAs and PCs, which could help to extend this level of security to a broader audience of users.”
