IdenTrust and Bharosa Team for Multi-Factor Authentication

San Francisco-based identity solutions company IdenTrust announced an alliance with multi-factor security provider Bharosa (Santa Clara, Calif.) in which Bharosa's authentication solutions will be made available to IdenTrust customers.

According to IdenTrust, Bharosa's technology will be integrated with its network infrastructure to offer an additional layer of online authentication security, enhancing the digital signatures currently in use by participating IdenTrust institutions. Starting early in the third quarter, clients will have the option of adding second and third-factor security layers on top of the IdenTrust certificate solution. Bharosa expands the IdenTrust offering to include Web site validation and authentication.

"Bharosa will authenticate Web sites accessed and utilized by IdenTrust digital certificates," says Andrea Klein, chief marketing officer at IdenTrust. "This provides a more comprehensive approach to identity security, authenticating the user to the site as well as the site to the user."

Klein says the partnership was a good fit, given Bharosa's global presence and the fact that the companies focus on similar customer segments. The combination of their respective technologies, claims IdenTrust, will help its customers meet the FFIEC guidance on multi-factor authentication, which goes into effect at the end of this year.

However, notes Klein, the alliance was not struck simply to address the FFIEC's dictates. "IdenTrust and Bharosa are both focused on the global market," she explains. "FFIEC guidelines are U.S.-specific. The two companies will also be working together on European initiatives such as SEPA and MiFID as well as emerging guidelines in Asia Pacific."