ONE of the world’s leading semiconductor suppliers for the secure identification, automotive and digital networking industries has forged a unique partnership with Belfast-based heartbeat authentication business B-Secur to create a new force in biometrics, a sector likely to be worth £25 billion inthe next two years
The NASDAQ trading NXP Semiconductors, which posted multi-billion-dollar revenues last year, has teamed up with B-Secur to launch an innovative authentication solution for its powerful new micro-controller chip.
NXP’s new platform will secure a range of connected devices from consumer devices such as wearables, smart door locks, thermostats and other smart home devices, as well as healthcare, commercial and industrial IoT applications.
B-Secur, founded in 2002 and chaired by veteran PR man Colin Anderson, will bolster the security of the new chip with an integrated solution based on its patented ECG authentication technology, which uses an individual’s unique heartbeat pattern, known as an electrocardiogram (ECG), to quickly and securely authenticate identity.
This is a ground-breaking deal for B-Secur that enhances its growing reputation on the global cyber-security stage, boosted further by a world-wide CNN documentary showcasing the company’s innovations in next generation biometric authentication.
This ECG authentication technology allows individuals to use their heartbeat as an authentication format.
It is seen as inherently more accurate and secure than fingerprint, voice or facial recognition and can turn heartbeat data into meaningful insights on fitness, stress, fatigue and other performance factors.
B-Secur's Belfast-born chief executive Alan Foreman (a former MD of Accenture, the world’s largest technology and business consulting organisation) said: “Working with NXP is empowering us to expand our market reach exponentially and help us deliver intelligent, powerful authentication solutions for global cyber security challenges.
“The key to this partnership is the integration of our technology into NXP’s hardware.
"I'm passionate about helping organisations understand that tapping into the power of next generation biometric authentication doesn’t require wholesale infrastructural change – it can be done flexibly with embedded solutions.
“We’re currently extending our licensing models and working with a number of companies on some truly exciting projects, particularly in the health and wearables sectors, with new partnerships under way.”
