Just a week after pushing back the anticipated close of their merger deal, Thales and Gemalto have announced that they’ve obtained another regulatory clearance needed for the project. The latest is from South Africa’s Competition Commission, the seventh of 15 approvals needed from regulatory authorities around the world in order for Thales to proceed with…
The disturbing trends continue in Gemalto‘s latest update from its Breach Level Index, a database aimed at recording global data breaches. Gemalto has issued its findings from the first half of 2018. The good news is that, compared to the same period last year, the number of data breaches isn’t up all that much at…
In an important move for a digital security leader, NEC has joined the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA). It’s a kind of intelligence network for digital security, and a surprisingly new one at that, founded less than two years ago, in January of 2017. It initially started as a nonprofit organization with six members: Check Point Software…
Exabeam and SecureAuth + Core Security have teamed up to offer a new security platform based on behavioral biometrics. The platform revolves around Exabeam’s Smart Timeline system, which scans online activity for abnormal behavior such as unusual login attempts and account switching. It assesses such behaviors into a risk score, which the SecureAuth IdP system…
Businesses are really starting to recognize the importance of protecting customer data, but are still struggling to implement effective digital security technologies, suggests new ForgeRock-sponsored research from Forrester Consulting. The firm conducted its research this past April, polling 400 decision makers across the US, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, and China. It found that…
“…token binding is already being adopted by Google and Microsoft in their Chrome and Edge browsers, that is has been included in the OpenID Connect Enhanced Authentication Profile, and that it’s coming to US government authentication standards including NIST SP 800-63-3.” An important security specification developed by the FIDO Alliance is close to becoming finalized. The IETF…
A pair of researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have devised a novel approach to online authentication that leverages speech recognition and a smartwatch. Dubbed ‘Listening-Watch’, the system requires a given user to download a security app on their smartwatch device. When authenticating through a PC or laptop, the computer will play a…
Juniper Research is predicting a significant jump in data breaches over the coming years. In a new report entitled “The Future of Cybercrime & Security”, the market research firm predicts that the number of stolen digital records will rise from an anticipated 12 billion records this year to 146 billion records in 2023 – a…
With facial recognition technology now causing some serious consternation and controversy through its use in public surveillance, it’s now poised to grow more invasive on social media as well. The credit goes to Trustwave, which has developed a new system called Social Mapper that uses facial recognition technology to automatically identify individuals’ social media accounts.…
“…the GAO’s report highlights authentication solutions based on FIDO standards for their capacity to offer ‘a convenient, added layer of security when used as a second factor for accessing websites or systems that would otherwise rely on a username and password for single-factor authentication.’” The FIDO Alliance has a high-profile new supporter in the government…
Florida-based identity and access management solutions provider Optimal IdM has established a partnership with TypingDNA, a Romania-based behavioral biometrics specialist. As its name suggests, the latter offers technology designed to assess unique patterns in how end users type. The system can operate on both mobile and desktop devices, enabling security based on behavioral biometrics. In…
Earlier this month, the company behind Timehop, a social media ‘time capsule’ app that shows users their older posts, revealed that it had suffered a data breach affecting 21 million users. And while the attack was not particularly exceptional as far as data breaches go, it nevertheless offers some food for thought, as FIDO Alliance…
“More and more people are getting used to confirming their identities with a face scan, and thus a growing number of end users are going to appreciate this option in DigitalPersona v3.0.” Crossmatch has implemented the latest major upgrade to its flagship authentication platform. DigitalPersona v3.0 offers a number of new features, but perhaps the…
Almost every Indian adult is now enrolled in Aadhaar, India’s national biometric ID database, according to a new report from The Economic Times. It’s a matter of some speculation, but the numbers add up. The central government says that a little over 1.2 billion people have been enrolled in the program; meanwhile, authorities also project…
ThreatMetrix has upgraded its eponymous digital security platform with a couple of important new features. One is the implementation of a “risk engine API” for 3DS 2.0, or “EMV 3-D Secure“, the platform used for payment security systems like Verified by Visa. Essentially, the solution will assess a user’s real-time transactions against those recorded in…
“…75 percent of millennials said they are comfortable using biometrics now, compared to the general average of 67 percent, and 58 percent for those over the age of 55.” Consumers are more concerned than ever about digital security, and millennials are leading the charge to replace the password with biometrics, suggest the results of a…
An IBM computer scientist is gaining new prominence as he works on cutting-edge identity solutions for his employer. At the recent Eurocrypt 2017 conference, Dr. Jan Camenisch was named a Fellow of the Association for Cryptological Research for his work in the field, Camenisch having published over 120 papers and holding 127 patents. The recognition…
ThreatMetrix has announced a new update to its eponymous digital authentication and threat detection platform. Processing authentication transactions on the “ThreatMetrix Digital Identity Network”, the platform is designed to detect potential fraud and online attacks for client businesses. Now, with its “Summer ’16 Release”, the platform offers new authentication capabilities, including mobile biometrics on iOS…
The FIDO Alliance has laid out a watertight security solution that could offer users a high level of protection from digital threats such as the Heartbleed Bug of 2014 and the DROWN attack from earlier this year. The system involves advanced channel binding methods and, of course, FIDO authentication. ‘Channel-binding’ refers to the practice of…