Intel and Symantec in authentication 'game changer'

Intel and Symantec have hooked up to combine their technologies for an authentication "game changer."

The world is yet to see any fruits of Intel's McAfee acquisition, but the chip giant has teamed up with security industry leader Symantec for a product due out in March.

The pair have brought together Symantec's VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) credential and Intel's Identity Protection Technology (IPT).

Intel IPT with VIP authentication will be availale on those systems featuring second generation Intel Core processors.

By embedding the security technology onto the chip, businesses will no longer need to download new credentials and the whole area of authentication within the enterprise should be faster and easier to manage, Symantec said.

Businesses will be able to benefit from the powers of both technologies upon release.

IPT generates one-time passwords that change at regular intervals to help protect users identities, whilst VIP offers the chance to use an additional six-digit security code to work on top of usernames and passwords.

With so much authentication to crack, hackers should find it fairly hard to break into corporate networks.

"The combination of our proven VIP service with Intel IPT provides users with a new level of built-in' strong authentication that has never been available before or easier to use," said Atri Chatterjee, vice president of User Authentication at Symantec.

"By synchronising VIP with the Intel chipset, we have created the first ever strong authentication credential that you will never see but will always have in your PC."