Startup Closes Door on Password Hacks
Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) March 04, 2015 -- aPersona, a new entrant in the internet security software market is able to detect that it is really you logging into your various online accounts. The small company has quietly spent the last five years creating a method that requires no change to a user’s experience, but provides significantly improved protection against hackers who may have obtained their credentials. Over 360 million user credentials have been compromised in recent attacks on Sony, Target, TJ Maxx, Anthem Healthcare, and a myriad of other blue chip companies. aPersona’s mission is to significantly reduce the risk of those lost credentials by providing a very inexpensive and easy-to-deploy authentication service to the operators of websites, apps, or mobile applications. aPersona uses hundreds of little digital details from a user’s legitimate logins to very effectively weed out hackers. If any of the details deviate from a user’s known profile they will be challenged for additional validating information, or a code may be sent to their cell phone or email address that must be entered. Hackers attempting to gain access will be challenged in a way they cannot easily overcome, thus the likelihood of gaining access to an aPersona-protected login is tremendously reduced. This new category of security is called intelligent multi-factor authentication.
aPersona knew that its solution had to be easy and inexpensive for businesses to put into play.
“We knew that we had a good solution, but the trick was making the technology scale to millions of users at an exceptionally low cost. That effort has taken the better part of three years and is now ready for market,” said Kelly Sparks, founder and Chief Executive of aPersona. “Our goal was to make the adoption of our product such a no-brainer that no rational executive in any company would pass on deploying our solution.” The company has been gaining traction.
Last week IBM adopted aPersona as a critical security partner for its BlueMix Cloud solution. http://www.bluemix.net “For IBM and several other major companies to adopt us we have passed very extensive technical vetting. We seem to have broken through. Now aPersona will be distributed through a network of security firms, consultants, service providers and via online ordering for small businesses. We will be everywhere,” says Sparks.
The threat of stolen credentials being used to access customer accounts is significant. The impact on businesses that have been hacked is material. Senior executives have lost their jobs and tens of millions have been spent on credit monitoring or other security measures. According to the most recent studies from IBM, the average cost to companies per breach is over $3.5 million. Most importantly consumer trust has been lost. Banking, credit card transactions and other private account activities are dependent on trust of access. aPersona offers real mitigation of these threats because a user name and password are only validated if they originate from known devices, internet addresses and match other known digital fingerprints of legitimate users.
According to Sparks, “The only time a legitimate user is potentially impacted is if they log in from a new device or location. At that point they may be challenged for additional validation information or will be sent a code to their cell phone that must be entered to gain access. Once they successfully log in, aPersona updates its profile and they will not be challenged again on the next login. It is designed to be transparent protection.”
This type of service is necessary to offset increasingly sophisticated hackers that seem to have mastered the art of raiding user data from major corporations. It also extends to login protection for national infrastructure, power grids, air traffic control, traffic systems and other critical systems. Other multi-factor authentication systems are available in the market, but they are expensive on a per-user basis and they are intrusive. Many systems require the user logging on to enter codes sent via email or phone messaging every time. The advantage aPersona delivers is a frictionless user experience. This leads to higher levels of user adherence and satisfaction.
“You don’t really know aPersona is there until something looks unusual, then they involve the user. It is one of the lightest user experiences in the online security market. That coupled with pricing 90% below established competitors should help aPersona build a footprint of coverage,” says Victor von Schlegell, CEO of cloud services provider Appia Communications. “We have been working with many providers in this space and aPersona has developed one of the most effective solutions thus far. Our firm has joined their distribution network. That is about as strong an endorsement as there is.”
aPersona has developed simple methods for any sized business on just about any digital platform to add its protection. More information, free trials and online sign-up can be found at http://www.apersona.com.
Chris Reese, aPersona, Inc., http://www.apersona.com, +1 (866) 229-0177 Ext: 101, [email protected]
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