PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 17, 2013) - The FIDO Alliance, an industry consortium revolutionizing online authentication with the first standards-based open protocol , announces that CrucialTec (KRX: 114120) has joined the Board of Directors. CrucialTec is the world leader in Optical Track Pad mobile input devices used in smartphones, smart TVs and digital cameras. Supporting founding company Board members Lenovo, Nok Nok Labs, PayPal, and Validity Sensors, CrucialTec and NXP Semiconductors are the first new companies to join the Board since the FIDO Alliance launched in February 2013.
"CrucialTec is a welcome addition to the FIDO Alliance board. Powerful, insightful and influential organizations like CrucialTec accelerate FIDO's path to universal strong authentication. CrucialTec's alliances with the world's leading mobile handset and digital device manufacturers directly impact the way consumers use technology. Their influence will help prepare and equip more users and relying parties to replace passwords with strong authentication security online and in mobile applications," said Michael Barrett, FIDO Alliance president and PayPal Chief Information Security Officer. "We expect the first FIDO enabled enterprise devices by the end of 2013 and consumer products to follow in early 2014. With companies like CrucialTec committed to reducing password reliance with better security, enhanced privacy, and a simplified user authentication, the FIDO vision moves quickly to becoming a reality."
"We are glad to join the FIDO Alliance Board. CrucialTec is the first developer and the No.1 provider of Optical Track Pad (OTP), which allows for optic based navigation on mobile devices. Since 2006, our company has supplied over 200 million Optical Track Pads to the world's leading mobile device manufacturers. For continuous company growth, we have added more variety in the product line-up of Mobile Track Pad. Our company's next generation Biometric Track Pad (BTP), adds fingerprint recognition to our existing navigation mobile track pad. Our BTP was developed this past year and supply contracts are under discussion with several global mobile device makers," said David Hong, Vice President of CrucialTec USA. "We expect our special technology in mobile equipment and global sales power will contribute to the FIDO vision, while synergistically expanding our BTP business by aligning CrucialTec with FIDO membership and new business opportunities."
The FIDO protocol will support a full range of authentication technologies, including biometrics such as fingerprint scanners, voice and facial recognition, as well as existing solutions and communications standards, such as Trusted Platform Modules (TPM), USB Security Tokens, Near Field Communication (NFC), One Time Passwords (OTP) and many other existing and future technology options. The open protocol is designed to be extensible and to accommodate future innovation, as well as protect existing investments. The FIDO protocol allows the interaction of technologies within a single infrastructure, enabling security options to be tailored to the distinct needs of each user and organization.
Organizations that want to influence the development of the FIDO protocol and ensure that the open standard addresses their use cases and requirements should join the FIDO Alliance now. FIDO Alliance members will define the market requirements, contribute to the FIDO specification and be part of the ecosystem that will address the broad range of use cases and technologies. The FIDO Alliance invites all companies and organizations to join the Alliance and become active members .
About CrucialTec CrucialTec (KRX: 114120) is the world's largest manufacturer of Optical Track Pad (OTP) mobile input devices. Headquartered in Suwon , South Korea , the company manufactures and supplies OTP devices to handset manufacturers such as Research In Motion , Samsung , LG , HTC , Sony Ericsson , Motorola , and Pantech . CrucialTec is also a supplier of devices for smart TVs and digital cameras to companies like HP , Sharp , Kyocera , and Acer . The company developed and commercialized the world's first nano-optic based input device and holds over 200 patents worldwide.
In 2010, CrucialTec had sales of $208 million and is targeting $1 billion in revenues in 2013. In July 2011, CrucialTec opened its Vietnam manufacturing plant in Hanoi with an expected manufacturing capacity of 100 million units per year. http://www.crucialtec.com/
About The FIDO Alliance The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, www.fidoalliance.org , was formed in July 2012 to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication technologies, and remedy the problems users face with creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords. The Alliance plans to change the nature of authentication by developing standards-based specifications that define an open, scalable, interoperable set of mechanisms that supplant reliance on passwords to easily and securely authenticate users of online services.
Founding FIDO Alliance members are Agnitio http://www.agnitio-corp.com , Infineon Technologies www.infineon.com , Lenovo http://www.lenovo.com , Nok Nok Labs https://www.noknok.com , PayPal https://www.paypal.com , and Validity http://www.validityinc.com .
Media Contact: Suzanne Matick for FIDO Alliance suzanne [at] matick.net 831-479-1888 Pacific time zone
