CryptoCard grabs GrIDsure patents from liquidator

GrIDsure OEM partner confirms it has concluded deal with fallen 2FA vendor

Two-factor authentication (2FA) vendor CryptoCard has snapped up the intellectual property of fallen rival GrIDsure.

Huntingdon-based GrIDsure, which makes tokenless, pattern-based 2FA, commenced liquidation proceedings earlier this month after its investor pulled the plug.

As a GrIDsure OEM partner, CryptoCard swiftly emerged as a frontrunner to buy its intellectual property, which includes eight patents that have been granted and a further 16 that are pending.

CryptoCard chief executive Neil Hollister (pictured) said the deal would see his firm increase its support for GrIDsure's authentication method within its BlackShield platform.

"There's not a large market for tokenless, or pattern-based 2FA, today, so you have to take a view on the future of the market," he told ChannelWeb. "But my guess is a well-educated one as I have already taken GrIDsure's technology to a bunch of customers in different countries and they are happy with it."

Hollister refused to divulge financial details of the transaction, which did not include GrIDsure's customer base or prospect list, but denied the patents weren't valuable.

"We expressed interest immediately," he said. "The liquidator would not have gone to the effort to sell them unless they were likely to provide significant benefit to creditors."

He added: "Token-based authentication is something that's not affordable for everyone but people want something stronger than a static password. Pattern-based authentication is a simple, easy and cheap strong authentication method."

Hollister said CryptoCard is keen to build ties with GrIDsure's resellers, some of whom felt they had been kept in the dark over the sale process.

"CryptoCard is a believer in this authentication method," he said. "It is available on our platform today and our support for it will increase. We would love to talk to any partners out there that share that vision."

Richard H Harris (pictured right), who recently started up 2FA venture Ensygnia after leaving GrIDsure rival Swivel in the summer, confirmed he had also put in an offer for the patents.

"It makes perfect sense for CryptoCard to buy GrIDsure as it completes its offering," he said. "Without that, it didn't have anything to compete effectively in the tokenless space.

"I also imagine this will be a blow for Swivel as it now has a far more capable competitor fully backing the technology."