Avast Acquires SecureKey Technologies for Digital Identity

Avast announces the acquisition of SecureKey Technologies, a Canadian company specializing in digital identity. The antivirus publisher, which has 435 million users worldwide, does not specify the amount of the buyout.

Acquisition of SecureKey Technologies by Avast

In his announcement, Avast explains that it acquired SecureKey Technologies because it is a well-established authentication and digital identity company that has been at the forefront of simplifying access to online services through reusable identities. It created a way for users to privately verify their identity with trusted entities (e.g. governments, banks, or carriers) and then use that digital credential to access other online services. . In other words, an online merchant might say: “we see that [votre banque] says you are who you say you are. It means we believe it too”. This means consumers don’t have to give everyone on the internet all of their personal information.

SecureKey Technologies is already successful in the identity space and will now bring that expertise to Avast. Its digital identity solutions, currently known as Verified.Me and Government Sign-In by Verified.Me, enable more than 200 million secure digital identity transactions per year worldwide. Their investments will support emerging digital identity standards and solutions, including DIDs (decentralized identifiers) and verifiable certificates.

“We envision a global, reusable digital identity framework that will underpin a new layer of trust for the Internet”said Ondrej Vlcek, the boss of Avast. “It is clear that digital identity is the essential enabler of many digital services and the success of SecureKey reflects growing consumer demand for it. SecureKey is highly complementary to Avast’s previous work in the identity space and together we will take our offering to the next level, accelerating innovation and working to establish a holistic approach focused on the user, which aligns proposals from users, companies and governments. We are committed to developing offers that will be fully inclusive for everyone, regardless of their own situation”he adds.