Hushmesh to Reveal Password-Free Solution to Identity Fraud, Data Breaches at CES 2020

By AIT News Desk On Jan 13, 2020

‘Mesh In’ Wraps Identity, Authentication, Data Security and Privacy in a Simple Snap

Hushmesh Inc., a Public Benefit Corporation committed to enabling digital trust and privacy for everyone, has a new approach to identity fraud and data breach prevention that removes friction and frustration so people can have secure and painless experiences. Hushmesh will demonstrate this solution at CES 2020 in the Changhong booth, LVCC Central Hall, #11439.

“Usernames and passwords may have worked when they were invented back in the 1960s, but they have become a complete nightmare on the internet,” Hushmesh Founder and CEO Manu Fontaine said. “Bolted-on security such as multi-factor authentication only adds friction to an already painful process. Biometrics may be convenient but come with serious privacy issues. And with the Internet of Things (IoT) upon us, do we really want to log in to our appliances? Hushmesh offers a better way, eliminating the pain inflicted by legacy solutions.”

“Passwords and IDs have been unsecure almost since they were created and remain one of the most vulnerable areas of attack today,” said Rob Enderle, a tech analyst with the Enderle Group. “We need to stop putting the security burden on humans. One of the ways to stop doing that is by automating authentication on behalf of each person and replacing the password/ID with something far more secure. Hushmesh has an intriguing method of doing that. It employs a secure IoT device based on Microsoft Azure Sphere. This device automates the secure sign-in process without the need for a password, or ID – potentially becoming a huge benefit to humanity.”

The Hushmesh secure IoT device – called the Trustee – automates end-to-end cryptography for its owner. Hushmesh chose Microsoft’s Azure Sphere IoT platform to ensure the security and trustworthiness of each Trustee.

Using a Trustee is easy. The user plugs in the Trustee at home, connects it to their Wi-Fi network, and links it to their phone. After this one-time setup, individuals can use their phones to “mesh in” to any participating service from anywhere in the world. Their phone remotely directs their Trustee to secure connections and transactions on their behalf.

“If you can snap a picture, you already know how to mesh in,” Fontaine said. “Instead of prompting you for a username and password, a participating service will show you a ‘meshtag’, a dynamic QR code. You snap it with your phone, your phone sends it to your Trustee at home, and your Trustee does the rest. Think of it as a universal login with cryptographic trust and data security built in, not bolted on. It eliminates usernames, passwords, second factors, and security questions. And it works for both corporate and consumer use cases.”

Because meshing in only requires a QR code, it also works on any connected display. Users can mesh in to check into a hotel, at their doctor’s office, upon entering their bank, or to a digital billboard in Times Square. Businesses can create omnichannel experiences by inviting their customers to mesh in both online and in physical locations. With Trustees handling end-to-end transactions, everyone enjoys seamless trust and data security for all one-snap experiences.

Behind the scenes, Hushmesh connects all Trustees to create a globally decentralized trust network called the Mesh. Organizations can easily add the Mesh as an identity provider to their corporate and/or consumer services. It supports industry standards such as SAML and OpenID Connect for secure integration with existing systems.

Most strategically, each Trustee enables self-service and in-person enrollment, revocation and recovery in the user’s own home. This precludes social engineering and insider attacks that lead to account takeovers and identity fraud in today’s centralized systems. Furthermore, the Trustee can manage unique data encryption keys for each service the user employs. Among many use cases for personal encryption, this makes Trustees uniquely equipped as custodians of cryptographic keys for third-party applications, such as cryptocurrency wallets and any other blockchain systems.

Hushmesh strategic partner Changhong will manufacture Trustees for global markets.

“Changhong already was a Microsoft Azure Sphere partner,” said Gary Tu, managing director at Changhong North America. “Our AI-Link subsidiary manufactures Azure Sphere modules for a wide range of IoT applications. We are impressed with Hushmesh’s innovative use of this new technology and see a unique opportunity to help Hushmesh deploy Trustees all over the world.”

Hushmesh will conduct pilot trials with partner organizations in the first half of 2020, leading up to commercial availability in the second half of the year.