Japanese telecom NTT DOCOMO is seeking to enhance the security of its open APIs with the integration of Authlete’s OAuth 2.0, an authentication framework designed to enable API access to a third party application without the need to reveal a user’s password credentials to the app. The authentication solution is based on standards developed by the non-profit OpenID Foundation.

The move comes after NTT DOCOMO Ventures acquired a stake Tokyo-based Authlete at the end of last November, and in a statement announcing the development, NTT DOCOMO asserted that the move is meant in part “to enhance collaboration” among the companies. NTT DOCOMO also said that going forward, it “expects to increase the uptake of Authlete’s services among companies in the API and IoT business fields” as part of a larger strategic plan looking ahead to 2020.

It’s possible that this planned expansion will have IoT applications, given DOCOMO’s recent activities with partners like MediaTek and Ericsson to explore 5G technology. Authlete’s authentication solution could end up playing an important role in the security of a highly interconnected device ecosystem in which the issue of protecting user credentials becomes increasingly critical to security.