Newsletter
Authentication solution provider HYPR Corp. and Samsung on Tuesday announced a partnership meant to deliver the next generation of decentralized authorization solutions for the enterprise segment, with HYPR’s technologies being set to be implemented into Samsung Pass, an identity management service originally introduced in 2016 with the discontinued Galaxy Note 7. The main goal of the collaboration is to deliver an enterprise authentication platform that’s both maximally secure and convenient, with the partners opting to do so by eliminating a centralized credential store from the equation. Instead, owners of compatible Galaxy devices will be able to verify their identities in the enterprise environment by using their own handsets, i.e. their biometric features. The solution hence supports all Samsung-made smartphones with biometric capabilities, including the newly announced Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus which debuted at MWC 2018 on Sunday.
Samsung Pass and HYPR will be primarily targeting workstation and application authentication with their joint solution, with the duo claiming the service is even more secure than traditional authorization methods due to a lack of a centralized store that can be breached. A decentralized platform mitigates the risk posed by hackers by virtue of the fact that attackers can’t compromise an entire enterprise system by breaching a single device, with the worst-case scenario being that just a single user is hacked. The setup also makes the process of authenticating one’s identity in such an environment more convenient as employees won’t be required to manage multiple tokes or passwords, thus being able to log into their workstations and verify their privileges in other scenarios in a more streamlined manner without compromising on the security. In practice, users authenticating themselves with HYPR-ennobled Samsung Pass will only need to glance at their device in order to do so, making the entire process as convenient as the current technology allows.
HYPR and Samsung’s joint venture was announced shortly after the latter invested in the former, thus following in the footsteps of Mastercard and RRE Ventures. The New York City-based company didn’t disclose the height of Samsung’s investment even when explicitly asked but revealed the total amount of funding it raised to date is $13.8 million. The newly announced authentication solution will be available to enterprise clients later this year but a more specific availability window has yet to be announced.