EC Identiv’s Post Password Era Solutions Gaining Traction As Company Strengthens Its Financial Position

TM editors’ note: This article discusses a microcap (<$100M market cap) stock. Such stocks can be easily manipulated; do your own due diligence.

Lately, we have seen many headlines about how large companies are experiencing security breaches that have resulted in sensitive customer information being exposed to theft. 

• In yet in another string of security breaches, JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) revealed that 76 million households’ and seven million businesses’ contact information were compromised, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently.

The compromised information included names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail address, as well as internal JPMorgan Chase information about the users, according to the filing. The bank did say however that the more sensitive information such as bank account numbers and credit cards was not affected.

• In another recent security breach, Home Depot (NYSE:HD) said on September 8th of this year that cyber thieves compromised financial information of its customers. According to the company:

On Sept. 8, we confirmed that our payment data systems were breached, which could potentially impact customers who used a payment card at our U.S. and Canadian stores in 2014, from April to September. Today, we are able to tell you that the malware used in the recent breach has been eliminated from our U.S. and Canadian networks.

Thankfully, it appears the cyber thieves in this case have been using the information to buy small insignificant everyday items such as beverages and meals at McDonald’s, so it’s likely the thieves in this case were just a bunch of bored kids, otherwise the damage would have been much greater by now.

• Cyber thieves used stolen/guessed passwords recently to ‘steal’ nude pictures of actress Jenifer Lawrence and model/actress Kate Upton from Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) cloud storage system. Representatives for both Upton and Lawrence had to work very hard to stop the spread of these personal pictures, and the theft has left users of Apple’s cloud feeling rather insecure about their personal items stored there.

• Target (NYSE:TGT) had its data breach occur around Thanksgiving of 2013. In that case, it appears that cyber thieves installed malware unto one of Target’s internal servers that stores customer credit card data. In fact, it’s believed the Home Depot breach occurred in the same way.

It’s really only a matter of time until more sophisticated cyber thieves will get the type of financial information in their hands that could lead to a potential financial crisis for both the businesses affected and their respective customers.

We believe a small company headquartered in the California Bay Area, Identiv (NASDAQ:INVE), has solutions that businesses and investors need to be aware of.

The cyber thieves were able to install malware in servers of Home Depot and Target that still use passwords for authentication. This gave access to the credit cards prior to encrypted storage. In simple terms, a credit card is swiped at the time/point of sale. Afterwards, it’s stored and encrypted internally before being charged by the credit card company. What the thieves did was intercept the credit card numbers using malware installed on the internal servers which directed the card numbers to be sent to them.

Identiv’s solution is geared for the internal server of a business. Passwords to gain authentication are not used, so Identiv’s solution is part of the “post password era.”

Identiv produces and manages strong two-factor authentication credentials. The company provides a service that issues and manages the life cycle of the credential (smart card or other form factor). The credential and the processor on the device are used to generate private keys inside the hardware itself. The service works with managed Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) providers like Symantec or Verizon, as well as an in-house PKI system to provide the customers with one of the strongest methods we have to protect Identity.

The complexity of smart credentials has always been in how they are managed. Typically complex expensive Card Management Systems and Public Key Infrastructure are used. Identiv’s solutions allow customers to take advantage of a secure credential without having to install the complex and expensive system to manage them. The credential can be used with managed or in-house PKI systems.

With the Identiv cloud-based service for issuing trusted credentials for its customers, the company provides a service-based solution to a lot of difficult questions such as: