Trusona, launching today from stealth, is unveiling their iOS mobile identity authentication technology which helps ensure the identity of the person on the other side of the login, while also combatting malicious session replay attacks.
Whether a company is looking to verify the identity of system admins logging in from home or a call center is trying to ensure they’re talking to the actual account owner, Trusona offers authentication in a process that’s actually pretty ingenious.
Identity authentication through Trusona begins with a physical in-person confirmation of identity which can be done in a variety of ways, either through identity confirmation with the USPS upon reception of the TruToken or through providing your employer with personal documents.
The TruToken
Once you receive your TruToken and are verified, you swipe three personal cards in your wallet as a confirmation of your identity. These become your authentication keys. Now, they could be a credit card, a driver’s license of a Chuck E. Cheese gift card, really anything with a unique magnetic strip that’s something you will consistently have on you.
The technology has some pretty interesting safeguards specifically designed to ward off a cyberattack known as a session replay. Replays essentially intercept and retarget data to maliciously gain login access. The TruToken rebuffs these attacks by not only verifying the identification card used but also by tracking the manner in which the card is physically swiped. If a session replay retargets the app with the identical intercepted credentials, it will be denied access as it’s impossible that the exact physical speed and manner of two physical swipes will be the same.
Trusona CEO Ori Eisen tell me that he knows this tech works because the core technology has been available for ATM users across the country for the last several years and through more than 119 million instances without ever once failing.
Right now, the service is largely focused towards enterprises with sensitive access, including banks, brokerage houses, healthcare companies as well as the hosts of companies in need of more stringent system admin authentication.
Trusona’s pricing structure is aiming to be pretty straightforward. The company charges a flat rate of $99 per person for the initial sign-up service, including verification and the physical TruToken, but after that it’s a $1 charge per verification used through the service.
Accompanying news of the launch from stealth, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company also announced the completion of an $8 million Series A led by Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers.
“In my nearly two decades as an investor, Trusona is one of the few solutions poised to revolutionize how we think about security and our personal information,” said Ted Schlein, GP at KPCB. “I couldn’t wait to be part of a team with vision as unique and potentially influential.”