Google Acquires Israeli Security Startup SlickLogin

Fnord666 writes "SlickLogin, an Israeli startup and developer of smart identification technology through user smartphones has been acquired by Google for several million (the official transaction amount remains undisclosed). SlickLogin was founded under a year ago by Or Zelig, Eran Galili and Ori Kabeli. The company first unveiled its technology at TechCrunch Disrupt held last September. The company has yet to launch their product."

Comments

Re:Kykes!

[cowwoc2001]

Really ...? At least have the decency to put on your white hood first.

The Big, Bad Wolf

[dotslashit]

"Goodness, what big eyes you have!" "The better to see you with, my dear." SlickLogin's technology uses a combination of protocols to start the authentication process. WiFi, Bluetooth, or QR codes – to name a few – are used to verify that, yes, a user's smartphone is located somewhat near one's active desktop or laptop computer. Use this and Google will be able to identify and tie your id with both your computer and your smartphone ... It's all about whoring the online you to their advertisers.

Re:The Big, Bad Wolf

[icebike]

Use this and Google will be able to identify and tie your id with both your computer and your smartphone .

Yeah, well, Two Factor Authentication already used by Google already KNOWS the computer you are using, and the PHONE you are
using.

This adds no more information than you've already given them for Two Factor Authentication.

Re:The Big, Bad Wolf

[swillden]

Use this and Google will be able to identify and tie your id with both your computer and your smartphone .

Yeah, well, Two Factor Authentication already used by Google already KNOWS the computer you are using, and the PHONE you are using.

This adds no more information than you've already given them for Two Factor Authentication.

Or, for that matter, by just logging into Google on both your phone and your computer.

Re:The Big, Bad Wolf

[heypete]

Its all time based. You get you your first sms from google, and that sets up the sequence of numbers that are calculated based on that seed and the current time.
I if have two phones, or move your Sim to a different phone, you have to set that up as well. But the weird thing is both phones will show different sequences, but either sequence will work to authenticate.

But use your friend's phone, it won't work. So it sounds to me that Google is keeping one timer for each authorized phone for your google account. So I thinks they CAN know which device you authenticate with.

You're partially right: Google's two-factor authentication service has two independent means of authenticating you:
1. You enter a code produced by the code generating app.
2a. They send an SMS to a phone number you've registered with them ahead of time, and you enter the code.
2b. They call a phone number you've registered with them ahead of time and a text-to-speech robot reads you a code, which you enter.

Mode #1 does not require (and in fact cannot use) SMS to setup -- rather, they show you a QR code containing the needed configuration information (e.g. the shared secret and some descriptive text). You use the Google Authenticator (or other OATH-TOTP compatible app) to take a picture of the QR code, thus configuring your code generating app. If your app does not support QR code reading, you can display the shared secret itself and manually enter it. At no time does the app ever send or receive any data over the network to/from Google. So long as you use the code generator, Google has no way of knowing which device you're using to authenticate. In my case, I have an iPod Touch, a Nexus 7 Android tablet, and a dumbphone with no data access that uses a third-party OATH-TOTP J2ME app to generate codes and they all produce the same codes as I've configured them all to use the same shared secret. Google cannot tell which one I'm using.

Google will only display the QR code/shared secret once -- you can configure as many devices as you want at that time by scanning the code/entering the secret and they'll all generate the same time-based code. However, if you ever go back to your Google Account settings and re-intialize the two-factor authentication it will generate a new secret and show a new QR code. When this happens the old shared secret is disabled and is no longer valid for authenticating to your account (this gives you the ability to revoke the code generator on a lost or stolen phone).

Put simply: there is only a single TOTP secret for your account. Changing the secret revokes the old one.

Naturally, if you use the SMS/voice call system they will know what device you've used to authenticate, but that doesn't apply to the code generator.

Is Israel the only middle-east starter-up?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why every time one of the big "monsters" of technology acquires a start-up is it from Israel?
Are the big technology players of the world biased?
Why we never read about Google buying a start-up from Egypt or Apple buying a start-up from Lebanon or Facebook buying some Jordanian start-up?

Are the Israelis the only people interested in technology in the middle-east? Is that a demographic matter?

Where are the contributions of the other middle-east countries in the areas of reearch and technology?

Re:Is Israel the only middle-east starter-up?

[dskoll]

People in most other countries in the Middle East tend to be too preoccupied with killing one another (only occasionally remembering to surface to denounce the "Zionist Entity") So they don't have time for frivolous things like, you know, progress or betterment of humanity.

Re:Is Israel the only middle-east starter-up?

[Ralph Wiggam]

Israel has virtually no natural resources to exploit. So they had to build their economy on other things.

From Wikipedia-

Science and technology in Israel is one of the country's most highly developed and industrialized sectors. The percentage of Israelis engaged in scientific and technological inquiry, and the amount spent on research and development (R&D) in relation to gross domestic product (GDP), is amongst the highest in the world.[72] Israel ranks fourth in the world in scientific activity, as measured by the number of scientific publications per million citizens. Israel's percentage of the total number of scientific articles published worldwide is almost 10 times higher than its percentage of the world's population.[73] Despite its small population relative to other industrialized nations around the world, Israel has the highest number of scientists, technicians, and engineers per capita in the world with 140 scientists, technicians, and engineers per 10,000 employees. In comparison, the same is 85 per 10,000 in the United States and 83 per 10,000 in Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Israel

Re:Interesting

[icebike]

Seems mostly aimed at Two Factor Authentication, not dissimilar to the way Google Authenticator works without having to type anything into your phone.

Currently Google's 2FA uses you phone as a synced clock displaying numbers which you have to key in to your
computer to log in.

These guys revers that and you computer sends a QR code or a sound that your Cellphone authenticates and sends
a response back through the network, via a separate path (tcp connection or sms message).

Its pretty clever, as long as its paired with something else only you would know. It has the same problems
that Google's current two factor has, namely that it is game over if someone steals your phone.

I suspect they bought them more for the patents than anything else.

Oy vey, you filthy goyim!

[Suiggy]

When will you filthy goyim realize that it is us chosen who will dominate in the tech sector? We will always out compete you. Whenever a business is sold, or a deal goes down that is over a $1 million, you can be sure that we have our hands involved in the affair.

Why do you goyim even bother trying? You'll never make it. Just give up. G-d is only on our side.

We even run Dice.

Re:There is no "Israeli"

[Anonymous Coward]

What are you a small child that believes if he sticks his fingers in his ears and shouts "Not Listening!" loud enough then suddenly the world will change to be the way he likes it? The state of Israel exists and it has an amazing culture, a vibrant society, a thriving economy and an army capable of defending it. What there is not ,is a Palestinian Arab state. And, if the Palestinian Arabs do not start negotiating responsibly, they will never get one.