Intel Acquires PasswordBox

By Angela Chen 

Intel has acquired the privately held company PasswordBox, effective immediately, in an effort to shore up its digital security as consumers become increasingly concerned in light of high-profile breaches.

PasswordBox, founded in 2012 and formerly based in Montreal, Canada, helps people use any device to log into all passwords without typing. It had been downloaded by 14 million people and received venture funding from OMERS Ventures. PasswordBox will become part of Intel Security Group's Safe Identity organization, which was established this January. Intel will integrate PasswordBox's form-filling technology with its own authentication technologies.

Terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed and Intel said they aren't material to its operations.

Cybersecurity and data breaches have become high-profile concerns for businesses and consumers alike. A recent report from Deloitte said that more than 90% of user-generated passwords are vulnerable to hacking. Last year, Experian PLC found that the average user used only five different passwords for 26 accounts.

Last year, Target Corp. was the victim of a massive data breach that affected 70 million people. Just recently, Home Depot Inc. said that it is facing at least 44 civil lawsuits related to an April data breach that compromised 56 million credit-card accounts and about 53 million email addresses.

Write to Angela Chen at [e-mail]

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