DUO Security was founded in 2009 as a specific cloud MFA provider, with the smartphone acting as a second factor. The iPhone 1 was released in 2007, and the Android phone quickly followed. While other on-premises solutions kept the authentication server and the enrollment in a confined environment, with SMS Passcode, the authentication information (a secret text message) was transported via the mobile network to the user. SMS Passcode, which specialized in authenticating by sending text messages, was founded in 2005 no hardware token required.

Webinar: Automating system security and compliance with a standard operating system.

But, almost 20 years later, thanks to the Open Authentication Initiative, HOTP (RFC4226) and TOTP (RFC6238) were specified-originally for OTP hardware tokens. In 1986, RSA released RSA SecurID, a physical hardware token displaying magic numbers based on an unknown, proprietary algorithm. While the IT department thought it was rolling out a reliable software of a successful vendor, a few years later, they were confronted with the product being end-of-life. The end-user might not be bothered at all, but organizations and companies who want to require multi-factor authentication for their users may wonder where to turn to and which horse to bet on.Ĭompanies like Secure Computing, Aladdin, SafeNet, Cryptocard, Gemalto, and Thales have been providing authentication solutions for organizations for some decades and have been involved in a round dance of mergers and acquisitions during the last ten years. New authentication methods arise, classical vendors are merging, and products have disappeared.

The two-factor market is changing, and changing rapidly. While the average end-user might only realize that his preferred web site either offers MFA or it does not, there is more to it behind the scene. Many services on the internet provide it, and many end-users demand it. Two-factor authentication, or multi-factor authentication, is not a topic only for nerds anymore.

Yubikey open source alternative