Iovation acquires LaunchKey, shows the future of authentication

Iovation, a provider of device-based solutions for authentication and fraud prevention, announced the acquisition of multifactor authentication company LaunchKey.

The move marks the launch of the new iovation LaunchKey MFA solution, an all-in-one toolkit that gives businesses the right authentication method for every touchpoint in their customer’s journey, including online, mobile, call center and in-person.

The combination of LaunchKey MFA with iovation’s existing Customer Authentication service will create something that’s entirely new: a SaaS-based, adaptive, risk-aware, authentication suite with enough flexibility and strength to satisfy both security teams and user experience designers.

This Dynamic Authentication suite provides precise recognition of whether or not a user’s device is known, how much it can be trusted, and what form of step-up authentication businesses require. Multiple user-friendly multifactor authentication options can be selected, based on the range of external threats, such as bad ISPs, TOR browsers or VPNs, or device-centered risks like rooting, jailbreaking, emulating, or tampering.

Today, iovation LaunchKey MFA enables real-time remote authorization through consumer mobile devices, and supports multiple methods of authentication including:

• Device – Turn the consumer’s device into an additional factor of authentication.
• Slide – Push a transaction request right to a consumer’s mobile device, letting them slide a virtual switch to authenticate or authorize in real time.
• Fingerprint scan – Leverage the device’s fingerprint scanner for biometric verification.
• Bluetooth device proximity – Verify that one or more Bluetooth® devices (e.g. Apple Watch® or a FitBit®) is within proximity to the consumer.
• Geofencing – Create location constraints about where transactions and logins can originate from.
• PIN code – Verify the consumer’s knowledge of a code stored securely on the consumer’s device.
• Circle code – Prompt the consumer to input a circular numberless code similar to a physical combination dial lock.
• Multi-party authorization – Now any business can require that one or more individuals must simultaneously authenticate and authorize to obtain access or authorize an action.
• Tokens or SMS — Leverage time-based one-time passwords for legacy and offline authentication, or use LaunchKey MFA alongside other methods already employed, homegrown or otherwise.

“Easier and more secure do not often go together, but that’s precisely what we’re doing for consumer authentication. Iovation will now enable organizations to control authentication guidelines while giving their customers the ability to choose where, when, and how they want to be authenticated,” said Geoffrey Sanders, CEO of LaunchKey. “If desired, organizations can do away with passwords completely, replacing them with the consumer’s mobile device plus any number of additional authentication factors.”