Bionym, a consumer electronics company focused on biometrics and strong authentication, announced today that is has joined the FIDO Alliance. The Alliance’s newest member brings along with it a wearable piece of post password technology, the Nymi: a wristband that authenticates its user based on vital biometric readings.
Nymi offers a proximity based security factor to users. The wristband requires that its wearer only authenticates once, after which the user will remain IDed by the gadget until she removes it. In addition to proximity detection, Nymi also features task-based gesture control.
“The FIDO Alliance represents a true collaborative effort to make online identity authentication both secure and effortless for users,” says Bionym CEO, Karl Martin. “Bionym’s Nymi fits naturally within this framework, with our focus on seamless identity for a broad range of digital and physical applications. Joining the FIDO Alliance represents a natural step in bringing the Nymi to the masses and making it widely compatible across devices and services. We’re extremely excited to bring our unique capability of persistent, trusted identity to the entire ecosystem of smart devices.”
FIDO president Michael Barrett adds, “Bionym, with the FIDO Alliance, supports the simple strategy of delivering seamless, effortless and secure authentication. FIDO standards will make devices, like Bionym’s Nymi, widely available and readily usable for the masses, by making the Nymi compatible and interoperable across systems, networks and services.”
Nymi marks a notable development in vital biometric application. Consumer-facing wearable technology has long been pigeonholed into the active living market, but by offering persistent identity verification, Bionym expands what a smartwatch can add to a user’s mobile ID arsenal.
Previously at Mobile ID World, we examined the strong authentication possibilities presented by smartwatches when used in similar ways. Recently, two new patents were granted to Valencell describe a system that uses vital biometrics in personalized marketing.
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