PassMark’s technology authenticates using a password and details of the log-in device such as the IP or MAC address, and then kicks a two-way authentication process that assures a user that the site they are trying to access is indeed the real banking web site. This involves the display of a visual PassMark or secret image unique to each user. These PassMarks can be randomly assigned to users from a pool of over 50,000 images, but they are also free to change their PassMarks by choosing from the pool or by uploading any digital photograph they want to use.
PassMark sells its systems mostly to financial services companies, and counts in its customer base the likes of Bank of America in the US and Alliance & Leicester in the UK.
RSA paid $145m last year for online fraud-detection products company Cyota Inc in a bid to accelerate its move into consumer identity protection services. Chief rival VeriSign Inc also recently bought SnapCentric to boost its catalog in the web banking authentication market.
Both vendors are responding to emerging legislation such as new FFIEC regulations from the body that regulates banking sites in the US, which mandates that two-factor authentication must be deployed by the end of 2006.
Richard Turner, who heads RSA Security’s sales organizations in EMEA and Asia Pacific, said the company had never before seen the same combination of marker drivers coming together as they are now. Online fraud is on the rise, with pharming exploits and phishing attacks. Legislative bodies at both the industry and governmental levelare getting more aggressive with mandates, he said. And mobility in the workplace and among consumers is pushing the need for financial services companies to offer secure multi-channel access.
He added that PassMark also provides the company with a voice-based biometric authentication system which will authenticate remote users over the phone using a voiceprint.
The company has paid $9m cash plus two million shares of RSA Security common stock, currently estimated to be worth $48.2m. It is also setting aside $2.7m to fund employee retention plans and termination costs. The deal is expected to add between $4m and $5m in revenue by the end of the year.
