News

VeriSign Authentication Network gets big name support

February 12, 2006

Datamonitor ComputerWire: VeriSign Inc. expects to reveal plans for an authentication network that will address financial industry regulations and bring two-factor authentication to millions of people. Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc. both have already signed up for the service. But greater opportunity for VeriSign may be in the U.S. financial services market, where Federal Financial Institutions Examination Councilregulations will oblige online banks to use strong authentication by the end of the year.

VeriSign officially will launch the VeriSign Identity Protection network at the RSA Conference, with a promise from eBay's Paypal unit to put authentication tokens in the hands of a million users within three years. Paypal has not decided which factor to use: traditional hard key-fob token, USB devices, smart cards or soft tokens that can be installed on PCs or cell phones.

VeriSign also is expected to announce partnerships with SanDisk Inc. and Motorola Inc. as part of the VIP announcement. Motorola has agreed to make its phones compatible with the service, while SanDisk will put tokens on flash cards used in cell phones.