Concerns over identity theft drive demand for authentication services

A cornerstone of these policies has to be effective authentication solutions, to ensure that only approved individuals have access to information and to reduce the threat of identity theft.

Identity theft - where hackers access accounts, steal personal details and clone identities for financial gain - has become one of the major challenges of the Internet era, with research from Javelin Strategy & Research suggesting that 1 in 23 people were victims of the phenomenon last year.

Middle East distributor OnLine Distribution and international user authentication specialist VASCO are joining together to raise awareness of the issue, targeting technology companies that target financial and government institutions in particular.

'Up-to-date authentication solutions are an essential part of any effective security strategy, so it's important that we work to raise awareness of a company like VASCO which has demonstrated leadership in this area,'

said Jitendra Kapoor, business development manager, security business unit, OnLine Distribution.

Under a new initiative, OnLine Distribution will work with VASCO - a specialist in the design and development of patented authentication software for financial and Enterprise Networks - as part of a Middle East-wide technology security campaign.

'We welcome Online Distribution as our partner for the Middle East Corporate Network Access market,' said Jan Valcke, VASCO's President and COO. 'We are convinced that the joint forces of both companies will create a more secure Corporate Network Access environment in the region.'

VASCO offers a diverse range of network security solutions. The company's portfolio currently encompasses the 'Digipass' (an ingenious and portable e-signature authentication token) and 'VACMAN Middleware, a product suite which facilitates the integration of strong DIGIPASS Authentication into security-critical applications.

Javelin Strategy & Research, a financial services and market-research firm, recently conducted telephone interviews with 4,000 consumers for the 2005 Identity Theft survey. According to their statistics, about 500 had been victims of identity theft.