1nextNo tokens, no software, and no hardware - it's in the cloud and on your phone. The first generation of two-factor authentication (2FA) was the "token" or "key fob" that required a user to carry an extra device with them to verify their identity. Users disliked carrying extra devices and it was proven to be easy to hack.

The second generation is the "soft token" that uses a cell phone or other device as the authentication mechanism. These are an improvement, but are complex to install and maintain, besides being expensive. Plus, they are not really secure as they can be "spoofed" and leave an opening on the web site log-in that can be hacked because of the immense power of hacking programs on a standard desktop PC.

Now, TextPower introduces the next generation of two-factor authentication (2FA) - the patent-pending technology of TextKey. TextKey is the only two-factor authentication service that works by sending a message from your cell phone for verification. Its technology can defend your web site from attacks by having someone verify their identity simply by sending a text message from their cell phone.

Cell phones have replaced cameras, calculators, voice recorders, boarding passes and flashlights. Now they replace security tokens, too, making it easy to verify identities. TextPower’s TextKey:
  • Is more secure than a token;
  • Is more secure than second-generation 2FA systems;
  • Cannot be fooled by "spoofing" a cell phone;
  • Doesn't leave an open field on the web log-in to be hacked;
  • Is simple to implement - just install our plug-in on your web page;
  • Costs a fraction of earlier systems because it is 100% cloud-based;
  • Captures the cell phone number of attempted intruders for to assist authorities in pursuing the violator.

Watch a video of TextPower's CEO, Scott Goldman interviewed at the industry's premiere security conference, explaining the TextKey™ next-generation two-factor authentication (2FA) system.

TextPower, Inc. was formed by two veteran entrepreneurs with deep experience in the wireless industry. Scott Goldman and Mark Nielsen, have both conceived, launched, built and sold businesses in the wireless, software and Internet industries since the 1980s. Both believe that there is a significant role to be played in the connectivity between people and machines that provides updates, alerts, information and more via messages sent directly to a user's phone triggered by an event or threshold being reached.

In February 2009, the founders purchased the assets of a company that had been created to develop software specifically for the SMS industry by two AT&T Laboratories veterans. The platform and software library was significantly more robust and reliable than anything else available on the market. Most importantly, it offered an opportunity to move messaging into the "automatic to peer" (A2P) environment more smoothly and elegantly than anything previously available. Combining the industrial-strength reliability of the platform and software with the imaginative approach of using the capabilities to help companies develop solutions instead of simply send messages to cell phones is the founding principle of TextPower, Inc.

By Anjum Siddiqi