facebook rss twitter

Google buys SlickLogin for audio-based authentication tech

by Mark Tyson on 17 February 2014, 10:13

Tags: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), PC

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacas5

Add to My Vault: x

Israeli start-up SlickLogin has been acquired by Google. SlickLogin has developed technology that makes logging into websites easier, quicker and more secure for users by using almost inaudible sound waves to confirm their identities. So far no financial details of the deal have been published.

In a statement on the SlickLogin homepage the team behind the technology made the following statement: "Today we're announcing that the SlickLogin team is joining Google, a company that shares our core beliefs that logging in should be easy instead of frustrating, and authentication should be effective without getting in the way. Google was the first company to offer 2-step verification to everyone, for free - and they're working on some great ideas that will make the internet safer for everyone." The statement concluded, "We couldn't be more excited to join their efforts."

The founders of the company said that they started SlickLogin "because security measures had become overly complicated and annoying". They kept working on the idea even though their friends "thought we were insane". Sometimes friends are wrong... but they're usually right.

The SlickLogin tech works on its own, as a password replacement, or as part of a two-factor authentication system. The system works like this: to verify a user's ID a website plays a uniquely generated sound – the user hold up his smartphone to the computer speaker – then an app on the smartphone analyses the sound and sends (encrypted) data back to the server confirming your ID. The generated audio is tied to the moment of the login. You can find out more about the tech, its use and its security on a TechCrunch Q&A article from when SlickLogin was first shown to the public, at Disrupt 2013 last September. Apparently developers only need to add five lines of code to their existing apps to implement SlickLogin.

A security expert told the BBC that tech like SlickLogin is probably superior to using a PIN and/or carrying a specialised card reader device for your online financial services.



HEXUS Forums :: 2 Comments

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!
Google are just buying everyone! They're like me when they have a little bit extra money - spend more and then have less than what I usually have :P
What do you do if you don't have a smart phone? Whistle instead?