Applying a combination of NFC technology and contactless bank cards, IBM has developed a simple two-factor authentication protocol for users conducting mobile transactions.
Currently applicable to any NFC-enabled Android 4.0 handset, users place their contactless card next to the phone and key in their PIN to generate a one-time code that is sent to the corporate server to confirm authentication.
IBM says the system could be used to provide an extra layer of security for online banking and digital signatures for remote users accessing a corporate Intranet or private cloud.
The contactless smartcard could be a bank-issued ATM card or an employer-issued identity badge, says Big Blue.
Diego Ortiz-Yepes, a mobile security scientist at IBM Research, says: "Our two-factor authentication technology based on the Advanced Encryption Standard provides a robust security solution with no learning curve."