Online and Digital Identification, Securing Web 2.0, PKI and Digital Certificates

Equifax jumps into online ID business

Monday, April 6, 2009

One of the biggest challenges facing consumers, retailers and the U.S. government is how individuals secure an identity online. For Joe Public there aren’t too many options, but Equifax Inc. is trying to change that.

The Atlanta-based credit bureau has introduced Information Cards, or I-Cards, to help consumers prove their identity online, says Steve Ely, president of Equifax’s Personal Information Solutions. “It’s a portable solution that’s in control of the consumer and works across any type of login,” he says.

I-Cards aim to be the online version of a physical wallet. Instead of having to remember multiple user names and passwords to gain access to sites individuals would use an I-Card instead, Ely says. The Information Card Foundation, of which Equifax is a member, is trying to promote the use of these cards as a framework that work with existing standards, such as SAML, and federated identity schemes.

There are 289 words in the rest of this article …

Library Access Required

Library subscribers have access to the full archives of more than 10,000 original news items and feature articles published by AVISIAN’s suite of ID technology publications (ContactlessNews.com, CR80News.com, DigitalIDNews.com, FIPS201.com, NFCNews.com, RFIDNews.org, SecureIDNews.com, and ThirdFactor.com).

For just $49, you receive unlimited password-protected access to content on all of AVISIAN’s sites for an entire year. Your subscription helps fund the continued creation of independent, insightful content. Find out more.

Sign in as a Subscriber

If you are already a subscriber, you may sign in now. Enter your Email Address and Password and click Sign In.

Email Address →
Password →
Action →

If you have forgotten your password, enter just your Email Address, and click Send Password.

Email Address →
Action →

Equifax is collaborating with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services to expand the HP cloud-based Assured Identity Plus solution with Equifax’s Identity offering, Anakam Identity Services.

The integration of Anakam into HP’s Assured Identity Plus will make it possible for remote online identity proofing and tokenless authentication for federal Web sites. The effort combines Equifax and HP’s Assured Identity Plus service to offer strong credentials to the U.S. public sector market. This will ensure that users are trusted before given access to secure government sites and provide strong web-based authentication when it is impracticable to issue a card, token, or other device.

read more »

Personal information of 9,000 current and prospective students was inadvertently posted online by Valencia College in Orlando. The school has apologized for the mistake.

The information included the students’ names, addresses, dates of birth and student ID numbers but not their Social Security numbers or financial information.

read more »

Anakam has been acquired by Equifax Inc. The two companies have been partners since the beginning of 2010, when Equifax selected Anakam to provide the electronic authenticator for the Equifax I-Card. Terms of the deal, which closed Oct. 1, were not disclosed.

read more »

Oracle has released a new version of Oracle Retail Point-of-Service that aims to increase security, operational efficiency and functionality in part by integrating biometrics.

Oracle partnered with DigitalPersonal to add integrated biometrics to the POS package. Users of the software will login using their fingerprint, which will replace the need for PINs or passwords. This feature intends to reduce fraud by eliminating the possibility of unauthorized employees using a manager ID or swipe card to access the POS and approve overrides.

read more »

CoVantage Credit Union (CVCU) announced the availability of Tyfone’s mobile wallet services throughout its branches in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Some 64,000 CVCU members can now use Tyfone’s mobile banking services, which include balance checking, account history review, fund transfers, branch and ATM location look-up, as well as several new features:

read more »

Gartner Group’s 2012 Magic Quadrant for unique and innovative user authentication products features Equifax’s multifactor authentication product Anakam TFA Two Factor Authentication.

Gartner predicts that by 2017 more than 50% of enterprises will use cloud-based authentication services like Anakam, up from 10% today.

read more »