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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
VeriSign(R) Identity Protection (VIP) Access for Mobile Widens Support for Strong Authentication
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure for the networked world, continues to gain traction with customers in driving the adoption of mobile phone-based security for online access. The VeriSign® Identity Protection (VIP) Authentication Service is the leading cloud-based authentication service enabling secure online access for end users utilizing their mobile phones. Today, VeriSign supports both standalone mobile security applications as well as a Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) for building security into mobile applications.
The VIP Access for Mobile application is offered for free from VeriSign and transforms more than 500 different types of mobile devices into VIP credentials for strong authentication including the most popular handsets -- iPhone®, BlackBerry®, Windows Mobile® and handsets supporting the most popular J2ME™ and BREW® platforms. Strong authentication works by requiring each user to provide not just a username and password but also a unique, one-time six-digit security code generated by a user's VIP authentication credential.
VIP Access for Mobile now has added support for Nexus One, the latest Android-powered device, and other Android phones from HTC, Samsung and Motorola. Android phone users can take advantage of the added safeguards of VeriSign® Identity Protection (VIP) with a free application available from Android Market™. For businesses using Google Apps™ Premier Edition, VIP Access for Mobile for the Android platform provides another way to add an extra layer of protection when accessing their information.
The VeriSign Mobile SDK allows developers to easily embed VIP security into their value added mobile applications. These applications include mobile banking, mobile payments, social networks and media distribution. VIP customers can now utilize the mobile SDK to simplify account access for their users while making the logon experience much safer and easier. For organizations taking advantage of the Mobile SDK, all their users can maintain or shorten the logon process with security provided 'under the hood' between the mobile application and the enterprise -- which means no longer will they be required to go through the three-step process of entering their username, password, and dynamic security code. VeriSign supports the most popular handset platforms including Android, iPhone, Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), Windows Mobile and BREW.
The VIP Access for Mobile credentials are utilized with the VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) Authentication Service. VIP provides an additional layer of protection beyond standard username and password. Strong authentication works by requiring each user to provide not just a username and password but also a second factor, in this case, a dynamic one-time six-digit security code generated by a user's VIP credential. Traditional strong authentication solutions required enterprises to deploy and manage costly IT infrastructure, now enterprises can utilize a VeriSign hosted service to obtain strong authentication. With VIP, enterprises can choose from a variety of credentials for delivering one time passwords including freely available credentials for mobile devices and PCs as well as standalone security devices from industry leading vendors.
"As mobile devices become the preferred way for communicating, banking, social networking and accessing rich media content, the need for enhanced logon and transaction security is greater than ever," said Kerry Loftus, vice president of User Authentication at VeriSign. "VeriSign Identity Protection provides enterprises and consumers the tools to access a very cost-effective cloud-based security solution built to foil the criminal efforts of hackers, identity thieves and fraudsters. With the free VIP Access for Mobile application available on more and more mobile devices worldwide, the protective net of VIP Authentication is spreading."
VIP Access for Mobile and VIP Authentication Service have won several global industry awards including, the Information Security Magazine and SearchSecurity.com 2009 Readers' Choice Gold Award, the eWeek Product to Watch for 2009, the Network World Asia 2009 Readers' Choice Award for Best Identity Management Suite, and the 2009 Network Products Guide Award in the Best in Multi- and Second-Factor Authentication category. VeriSign was also recently named as a finalist for the 2010 SC Magazine Awards in the categories of: Best Identity Management Solution, Best Multi and Second-Factor Solution, Best Security Software Development Solution and Best Web Application Security Solution.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, VeriSign helps companies and consumers all over the world engage in communications and commerce with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
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