Authentify Updates Mobile Device-Based Authentication Software

Authentify is unveiling an extension to its mobile device-based authentication software.

The company created a mobile app called xFA that replaces a customer's password with a digital image and a spoken passphrase last July. The app protects customers' information when they log in to bank accounts, verify transactions, and add payees to wire transfers.

Authentify supports xFA with an online service that turns mobile devices into a security token.

This week, Authentify is introducing an extension of xFA called Smart Choice. This software will determine what authentication mechanisms the user's device has access to, such as a fingerprint reader or a gesture-based keypad, and make that the second factor I the authentication process. This relieves a bank or other company of having to predetermine authentication factors that might not be relevant to a user's mobile device.

"The barrier to mass-market deployment of stronger authentication boils down to the impact on the user experience," said John Zurawski, vice president at Authentify, in a press release on Monday. "What we have done is make that experience as simple, automated and friction-free for mobile users as SSL or HTTPS is on the Web."

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