Intel introduces Intel Authenticate, designed to stave off hackers

Securing your PC has always been a priority, and a challenge for Intel, especially in the enterprise sector. But vPro, a small co-processor that helps to secure your system in a variety of different novel ways, is a little long in the tooth even though it's still very relevant. So Intel is innovating on their vPro architecture by adding new functionality and making it a much better and more sophisticated in the wake of more refined attack methods.

Intel Authenticate is their new hardware-enhanced multi-factor authentication solution that'll make use of the existing vPro processor to authenticate users. It's able to verify your identity by using a combination of three things; something you have, which is a security token or even a smartphone or an app on that phone, something you know, such as a pin or password, and something you are, biometrics.

How does it work? In the hardware is a certificate that's completely separated logically and physically from the rest of the system, so this certificate is theoretically very secure and can't be spoofed. You're information is stored with that certificate and compared against it. It's actually a very good solution, and this hardware-assisted MFA is a step in the right direction. And with Synaptics making finger-print sensors easier to integrate into systems, and smartphone authentication apps becoming so ubiquitous, it's a natural evolution.

Better security made easier for us is exactly the direction we need to head in. Even though it'll require the entry, or scanning, of multiple things, the ease and quickness of the process should make it a faster one as well. No longer will we need super long and complicated passwords that we barely remember. Let's hope this gets adopted well.