• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Apple’s AuthenTec Buy Validates Biometrics, Valid Tech Says

    August 14, 2012 Alex Woodie

    The folks at IBM i biometric software maker Valid Technologies were heartened by the recent bid by Apple to buy biometric chip maker AuthenTec for $356 million. The CEO for Valid Tech, which uses AuthenTec’s fingerprint matching technology in its flagship IBM i-based VSSA product, says the deal could help spur the adoption of biometric authentication.

    Greg Faust, the founder and CEO of Boca Raton, Florida-based Valid Technologies, says its partnership with AuthenTec shouldn’t be affected by its deal with Apple. Faust says he sees no reason why Apple wouldn’t accept revenue from companies like Valid that OEM AuthenTec’s technology–in this case, the “matcher” software that matches a person’s fingerprint scan with the original scan that is on record, as well as the extractor software that pulls data from the fingerprint scan.

    “There’s no change of control clause in the licensing agreement,” Faust tells IT Jungle. Apple didn’t respond to Faust’s request to clarify the deal, he says.

    Companies like AuthenTec and SecuGen are typically more interested in selling biometric hardware than in making money from selling software that runs on the authenticating server. However, it’s unlikely that Apple is buying AuthenTec to get into the market for biometric devices.

    Even if there was a change in the partnership, Valid has deals in place with other makers of biometric matching and extracting software that can be put into VSSA, including AuthenTec competitor SecuGen. “It’s not going to affect us in a negative way at all.”

    There has been much speculation over Apple’s plans for AuthenTec. The most likely scenario has Apple embedding AuthenTec’s fingerprint scanning chip directly onto the screen of iPads and iPhones. This would bolster a range of activities, including enterprise authentication, which has become a big problem in the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement. It could also bolster mobile payments. An alternative theory has Apple buying AuthenTec just to mess with mobile device rival Samsung, which had signed a big deal with AuthenTec for authentication on Android devices just prior to Apple’s offer.

    Whatever Apple’s plans are, the $356 million it’s put on the table has already helped to “validate” biometric authentication as a whole, Faust says. “Biometric is absolutely the way to do authentication, because nothing else makes any sense,” he says.

    Faust recounted a recent experience in which an acquaintance had downloaded a nifty icon to the log-in page of a social media website. “That’s a keylogger,” Faust told him. “You’ll wake up one day to find your bank account cleared out.” Passwords, also, are completely out of hand.

    While it’s clear to Faust that biometric authentication is the way we’ll prove our identities in the future, he just wishes the future wouldn’t take so dang long to get here. “i5 people have a tendency not to be early adopters,” he laments. “It’s been a painfully long time to get some adoption by big companies.”

    Once those large IBM i shops start seeing their competitors having good results with biometric authentication, they’ll be ready to jump on the bandwagon. “All it takes is one domino to start falling,” he says.

    Apple’s domino is a big one, and it could herald the beginning of a change in how we do authentication.

    RELATED STORIES

    Valid and TGS Gang Up on Buddy Punchers

    Valid Gets IBM Certification for i OS-Based Biometric System

    Bank’s Approach to Biometric Authentication a ‘Valid’ One

    Pat Townsend to Resell Valid’s i5/OS Biometric Authentication

    Valid Tech Assimilates Biometric Authentication Into the Enterprise

    IBM Debuts New Password Reset, Synchronization Software

    Valid Tech Delivers Biometric Authentication Solution for OS/400

    Identity Management Comes to Forefront as Data Losses Mount



                         Post this story to del.icio.us
                   Post this story to Digg
        Post this story to Slashdot

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags:

    Sponsored by
    Midrange Dynamics North America

    Accelerate Change & Integration on IBM i

    Good change management unites IBM i and open systems development for productive collaboration. Developers work with their preferred tools and IDEs. Ultimate version control and traceability mean fast bug fixes and less stress. Rollback to a stable version in seconds.

    Change management gives managers, operations teams, and auditors the visibility they need, and developers can focus on what they like best: building great applications.

    Learn More

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Sponsored Links

    Connectria Hosting:  Download the State of the i White Paper highlighting Connectria's IBM i Cloud
    Enforcive:  Template-based compliance for IBM i
    ProData Computer Services:  Experience the power! DBU 10.0 - Now Available

    IT Jungle Store Top Book Picks

    BACK IN STOCK: Easy Steps to Internet Programming for System i: List Price, $49.95

    The iSeries Express Web Implementer's Guide: List Price, $49.95
    The iSeries Pocket Database Guide: List Price, $59
    The iSeries Pocket SQL Guide: List Price, $59
    The iSeries Pocket WebFacing Primer: List Price, $39
    Migrating to WebSphere Express for iSeries: List Price, $49
    Getting Started with WebSphere Express for iSeries: List Price, $49
    The All-Everything Operating System: List Price, $35
    The Best Joomla! Tutorial Ever!: List Price, $19.95

    Worldwide IT Outsourcing Fattens Up 2012 Spending Pie Composing An XML Document From Relational Data: Part 2

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Volume 12, Number 22 -- August 14, 2012
THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:

ProData Computer Services
Help/Systems
Townsend Security
Linoma Software
RJS Software Systems

Table of Contents

  • Dos and Don’ts of DR with Richard D
  • IBM Delivers Tech Preview of New Java-Based 5250 Emulator
  • Progress Hooks DB2/400 to Microsoft LightSwitch RAD Tool
  • Apple’s AuthenTec Buy Validates Biometrics, Valid Tech Says
  • Robot/CONSOLE Gets Smarter with Jobs
  • EXTOL Puts EDI ‘Patterns’ in the Cloud
  • IBM i Playing a Role in Rocket’s Ambitious Growth Strategy
  • Oracle Unveils New JDE EnterpriseOne Reporting Tool
  • Third-Party ERP Maintenance Firms Report Record-Setting Revenues
  • UC4 Sold to Private Equity Firm for $270 Million

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • With Power11, Power Systems “Go To Eleven”
  • With Subscription Price, IBM i P20 And P30 Tiers Get Bigger Bundles
  • Izzi Buys CNX, Eyes Valence Port To System Z
  • IBM i Shops “Attacking” Security Concerns, Study Shows
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 26
  • Liam Allan Shares What’s Coming Next With Code For IBM i
  • From Stable To Scalable: Visual LANSA 16 Powers IBM i Growth – Launching July 8
  • VS Code Will Be The Heart Of The Modern IBM i Platform
  • The AS/400: A 37-Year-Old Dog That Loves To Learn New Tricks
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 25

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2025 IT Jungle