Hoyos Labs Introduces App that Leverages Biometrics via Smartphones to Make Digital Lives More Convenient and Secure
You've been here before: you desperately need to sign into your online banking account but can't remember your password, site key or the answer to your secret question. What's your dog's birthday? Who was your first grade teacher?
Today, Hoyos Labs, a digital infrastructure security company, launches the app that will finally put an end to the frustration that comes with usernames, passwords and PINs – 1UTM. 1U leverages a user's smartphone to acquire his or her biometrics to conveniently and securely replace log-in information for thousands of favorite websites, including non-standard sites that require information in addition to usernames and passwords (i.e. a site key).
The app, available now for iPhone devices and available for Android devices on December 10, supports various biometrics – including facial, periocular, fingerprint and iris – to recognize that there is only one you (1U) who is attempting to authenticate your identity and log into the sites.
1U utilizes an optional proprietary, unique, state-of-the-art "liveness" detection system that is capable of distinguishing a real person from an image or video – high-definition or standard. Upon recognition, the app grants access to websites that you have assigned with 1U – from social media sites to your online banking account and beyond.
"At Hoyos Labs, we've been fighting against the password for years, and we are now launching a solution that doesn't involve a token or master password and allows users to authenticate their identities with their unique biometrics," said Hector Hoyos, CEO of Hoyos Labs. "By creating and launching 1U, usernames and passwords are stored encrypted in consumers' mobile devices instead of through an external service."
"Your information always remains with you, and hackers are highly unlikely to ever be able to touch it as a result, because they would literally have to steal your phone to attempt to hack it," Hoyos added. "In the near future, as corporations implement the Hoyos Labs technology into their back-end systems, this will lead to a complete elimination of usernames and passwords."
Once downloaded, the app walks consumers through a simple "how to" setup process, which includes:
Fusing their unique / personal biometric data onto their own smartphones (and not in the cloud, ensuring personal security)
Linking with their PCs / laptops / tablets to allow for easy access to any site
Registering with more than 15,000 different websites (banking, e-commerce, social networking, etc.)
Loading the browser up on computers automatically and logging users into sites without ever having to touch the computer once authenticated on the mobile device
The 1U app even allows consumers to share their websites with other 1U users without ever having to show their credentials, and they can authenticate their identities to more than one device if desired.
"Identity is the currency of the information age," Hoyos said. "Proving who YOU are is the key to all online transactions. The centuries-old version of passwords is dead. 1U allows the uniqueness of YOU to be your passport to any and all digital transactions. 1U is designed to end the frustration and make everyone's online lives as easy as looking into the camera on their phones."
If a consumer loses his or her phone or gets a new phone, that person merely has to reinstall 1U, and the software will prompt to authenticate with biometrics. Once the true identity is verified, 1U will automatically reconfigure and restore all of the original data if the consumer used the option of saving his or her data, encrypted by biometrics, to the personal drop box.
Consumers can download 1U for free for access to unlimited websites on unlimited mobile devices and computers for 30 days. After this 30-day trial period, consumers can purchase a one-year ($49.99) or monthly ($9.99) license, both for access to unlimited websites on unlimited mobile devices and computers.
"1U uses the strongest, military-grade encryption method that's available today; this will ensure that consumers' personal information remains private and outside the reach of hackers," continued Hoyos. "All users have to do is authenticate their identities with their biometrics, and in a matter of seconds, they will automatically be logged into all of their websites. Never again will consumers have to keep track of usernames and passwords to protect their personal material, and 1U is the only technology out there that's easy, convenient and secure."
