Security on the go
Biometrics security and radio frequency technologies provider Microlatch has created a three-factor system designed to secure access to data stored on mobile devices.
The ‘id-me’ system uses a patented wireless connection method to electronically pair a small ‘Bio-button’ device to a mobile platform.
By harnessing the processing power and wireless connectivity available to users via mobile devices, the ‘id-me’ application allows users to configure various levels of security, providing customised physical access while allowing expansion into ‘positive ID’ security for financial institutions, online payment systems, online shopping, and contactless payment systems.
The patented approach uses biometrics to provide positive identification in conjunction with a Bluetooth interface to allow users to access the computing power of mobile devices without sacrificing security.
This method of ensuring positive ID via a biometric token wirelessly ‘tethered’ to a mobile device offers a solution to security risks involved with keeping biometric data and digital keys stored on such devices.
When the system is deployed, the user establishes biometric authentication using the Bio-button device when they switch on their mobile device. The authenticated connection ‘tethers’ the Bio-button to the device for as long as determined by the user.
Once the token is tethered, the authenticated connection between the mobile device and the Bio-button remains active while the Bio-button is within range of the platform. The range is sufficient to allow the Bio-button to be stored in a pocket or bag.
If the mobile device is moved out of range - whether by theft or loss - the tether is disconnected and the authentication broken. The Bio-button will then vibrate, signalling to the user that they have been separated from their mobile equipment. Conversely, the system can be configured so that, should the Bio-button be lost or stolen, the mobile device will signal the user - by ringing, vibrating, or presenting a message on the screen.
While the Bio-button remains ‘in field’ of the mobile device, the platform is authorised to pass through any number of access controls or secure transactions via a software interface, using any communication connection available to it through the mobile device, such as WiFi, Bluetooth or USB.
If the mobile device is stolen and the electronic tether broken, the encrypted content of digital keys stored on the mobile device cannot be accessed. The id-me application is designed so that the user can safely make an encrypted backup of their stored keys. This backup can then be downloaded onto a new mobile device and activated via the original Bio-button.
The Bio-button can also act as a user-configured emergency ‘set of keys’ in manual standalone mode.
In a worst-case scenario, when a user loses a tethered mobile device and Bio-Button simultaneously, a secure registered website can be used to remotely break the tether, rendering the contents of the mobile device inaccessible to any would-be thief.
Microlatch believes the ‘Bio-button’ provides an all-in-one solution for access control, mobile banking, online shopping, home automation, alarm systems, computer and network logins, and other customised access or login scenarios.