Expertron Group (Pty) Ltd, a young start-up company with offices at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria, has announced that the preliminary patent protecting its Cell-ID product has received a clean bill of health from the PCT Patent office in Brussels.
Cell-ID is a system that uses mobile phones as authentication tokens to prove the identity of a person gaining access to services over a data communication network. Combined with existing passwords, it forms a strong two-factor authentication mechanism that combines something the user knows (a password or PIN) with something the user has (the mobile phone) to confirm the identity of the user. After typing in a user name and a password (as usual) the user is prompted for a second passcode, which is the sent as an SMS to his mobile phone (and usually arrives in less than seven seconds). Only when this passcode is correctly typed in, will the user gain access to the service.
According to Dr Walter Smuts, managing director of Expertron: "Cell-ID is a practical solution that scales well for applications such as Internet banking and access to Web sites of medical funds and insurance companies."
Cell-ID uses existing infrastructure (and devices that have already been accepted by users) to increase the level of security. The logistical problems associated with other token-based authentication products make them impractical for applications with large numbers of users spread over large geographical areas.
According to the examination report from the PCT patent office, the claims that protect the technology on which the Cell-ID product is based, are "novel, inventive and has industrial applicability". The PCT patent gives Expertron the rights to submit final patent applications in all the PCT member countries. These patents will protect the Cell-ID product and may provide licensing fees on all other products that are based on the same principles.
Expertron has already submitted an application for a South African patent and has assigned SecureData (Pty) Ltd as the exclusive distributor of the Cell-ID product in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Expertron Group (Pty) Ltd is a hi-tech start-up company that specialises in innovative product development for information and communication security solutions, with a current focus on applications utilising technologies at the convergence between mobile (GSM) and conventional data networks (the Internet).
Established in October 2000, Expertron was the first company to join the Gauteng Innovation Hub, currently located on the CSIR campus in Pretoria and operating as a pilot technology incubator. Expertron provides IT services to the pilot incubator, and supports the initiatives of the Innovation Hub to promote the growth of innovative high-technology businesses that develop intellectual property in SA for both local and international markets.
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