18-Feb-2014 14:23

Clever, those Israeli chaps… SlickLogin acquired by Google

SlickLogin, an Israeli security startup that uses smartphones and high-frequency sounds for identity verification on Web sites, has been bought by Google..

The early stage company, which has not yet even released a commercial product, develops technology that allows Web sites to generate nearly silent tones through a user's computer speakers as a verification replacement for passwords.

An app on the user's nearby smartphone picks up the unique audio signal, analyzes it, and sends it back to the site's servers for login.

The technology could be used as a replacement for the traditional password or as part of a two-factor authentication, which is intended to reduce users' vulnerability to online identity theft, phishing, and other scams by adding a second level of identity verification to an account login.

The three-person company joins a handful of Israel-based companies that Google has acquired in recent years, including the spreadsheet company iRows in 2006, entertainment company LabPixies in 2010, and the $1.3 billion purchase of mapping service Waze last year.