Priva says new ID Verification Platform will be deployed this quarter...
ARLINGTON, VA, May 16 -- Priva Technologies Inc. announced today that the first commercial deployments of its new Cleared Authentication Platform™ would commence in the second quarter. “We will be working with a variety of enterprise, integrator and reseller pilot partners in the financial services, government and general corporate sectors,” according to Priva CEO Jeff Minushkin.
The company declined to name partner companies “at this time” but said the first applications of the Cleared™ platform will be to create utilities for laptop and PC lockdown and network access. Minushkin noted that more detailed implementation announcements would be made in cooperation with its pilot partners over the next several months.
Priva first introduced its new technology less than a year ago. “In the interim, we’ve made speedy progress in successfully completing two versions of our Application Specific Integrated Circuit [ASIC] and making significant headway in the creation of a third, even more advanced version that will be available later this year,” Minushkin said. He added that the microchips have been designed to meet the requirements for Federal Information Processing Standards [FIPS] 140-2 Level 2 certification.
An Interoperable, Holistic Solution
Today’s announcement pointed out that Priva’s platform is the first utilization of its patent-pending ClearedChip™, which it designed “specifically and solely for the purpose of secure identity verification in online and offline computer-based access, thus allowing organizations greater flexibility in the integration of custom utilities and legacy applications.”
Priva’s secure authentication chip can be embedded in cell phones and handheld devices such as PDAs or in the company’s own key-like token, which it calls the ClearedKey™ and which the company says is as easy to use as an ATM card. “Users simply insert their ClearedKeys into the USB ports on their computers and they are instantly cleared for access using either a PIN or biometric identifier, or both,” Minushkin said.
The same secure microchip, as well as a number of other advanced physical and electronic intrusion prevention technologies are used to protect the platform’s host-based authentication server, Priva’s ClearedSystem™.
Minushkin explained that: “The benefits of having an authentication server as part of the ID verification process are abundant. For one thing, it allowed us to take a multi-use, interoperable, holistic approach to solving the problems of electronic user authentication. And, it permitted us to create special interactions between the ClearedChip and the ClearedSystem server that, in turn, significantly enhance the security of the ID procedures beyond those available in other systems.
Tool Kit Enables Custom APIs
“Priva’s ClearedSystem approach also allows enterprise users to easily and quickly expand the numbers of applications they wish to employ in a secure environment and the numbers of end-users to whom they wish to issue ClearedKeys,” he said.
The platform comes with its own API Tool Kit, a set of utilities that allows that enterprise user “to quickly and seamlessly integrate existing legacy programs and to create new ones that can be custom tailored to the user’s needs, he noted.
“This aspect of the Cleared platform, the combination of the ClearedSystem server and the API Tool Kit, is what sets it apart from other systems. In the world of commerce it allows the creation of trusted connectivity, allowing organizations to adapt important, specialized business development and enhancement applications that provide measurable ROI. In government, it provides an open development capability that permits maximum flexibility in the design of specialized and secure authentication and access control programs,” said Minushkin.
Four Units of Functionality, Four ID Factors
Priva said that it has built four functional units into what it calls its ClearedChip, the first being a challenge/response unit that offers up to four identity verification factors: a PIN, a token, a biometric identifier and a special validation exchange between the chip and the hosted ClearedSystem authentication server.
The chip’s second area of functionality is a streaming unit that encrypts and decrypts data and enables the use of the Cleared platform for a wide variety of uses from securing data files and e-mail to digital rights management and the creation of “instant, more secure point-to-point VPNs.”
The third functional unit enables transaction processing – a utility that not only creates electronic signatures without the need for third party certificate authorities but can also use a patent-pending methodology to create a non-repudiation log that validates the user as well as the transaction, itself.
Finally, the chip also contains what Priva calls Vendor Specific Data areas [VSDs]. There are eight VSDs in the ClearedChip where an enterprise can store its own special data. For example, a commercial enterprise might use these memory areas for secure, authenticated customer couponing and loyalty programs. Or, a high-security institution might utilize this functionality to provide special and/or limited physical and computer network access to consultants and business partners.
ABOUT PRIVA TECHNOLOGIES
Priva Technologies, Inc. provides a stand-alone, secure authentication solution for the builders, owners and managers of transaction systems that utilize, or should utilize authentication security. These include, applications that provide business-to-business transactions, enterprise security, secure e-mail, single-sign-on, travel reservations, online and offline purchases, payment services, banking, and financial products which are all empowered by user-friendly, highly secure authentication. Unlike other technologies that are notoriously hard to install or scale, have limited flexibility or are difficult for individuals to use, Priva's authentication system easily integrates with all sizes of enterprises and provides clear convenience for consumers. Priva, a privately held Delaware corporation, is headquartered in Arlington, VA, with engineering and technology facilities in Cupertino, CA