Shivvy J

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OPINION, SECURITY

Ever wanted to control your place in the digital world? Don’t worry we’ve got your back.

Today at Mobile World Congress, Chema Alonso, a security guru and CEO of the Telefonica-owned cyber security company Eleven Paths, showed off his security product ‘Latch’ (check it out here now) to a bustling room of journalists and analysts at the Telefonica stand, revealing some exciting new details about the application.

You may remember that at the end of last year we announced a new innovative portfolio of cyber- security products for businesses and people. One of these products, called Latch, is a smartphone application that enables people to embed an additional layer of security to protect their numerous digital identities.  As Chema describes it – Latch is “the safety switch for your digital life.”

Today, alongside a live demo, Chema unveiled some new Latch partnerships, increased compatibility and some fascinating user cases.

Chema explained that while Latch is predominantly a B2C OTT application, it has many dimensions and uses.

Corporates can use Latch as a super lock, adding extra measures to existing security solutions allowing IT administrators and managers to open and close access to certain services as required. At the same time, for people working in companies with a BYOD policy, Latch can give employees that additional comfort when accessing personal digital services.

For children and parents, he outlined how Latch’s appeal can be two-fold

For parents, Latch can help to limit the services a child can access on a device, and for kids Latch, through this service filter, can give them the freedom to have their own device identity without parents needing to worry.  This peace of mind with regards to data and identity protection is at the core of Latch and is particularly relevant at a time when data protection and online safety is at the forefront of public consciousness.

Chema admitted that the current goal for Latch was to “have greater integration into more digital services.” This integration and the rapid growth of Latch’s ecosystem was given a further boost today when Chema announced that, alongside existing services , Latch will now be integrated into the online services offered to users by the International University of La Rioja (IULR), the University of Salamanca (USAL), Cajamar Caja Rural and the Cortefiel Group.

In the case of USAL and IULR Latch will be used to help better secure email systems and student records. In the case of Cajamar and the Cortfidel Group, Latch will be offered to the hundreds of thousands of people who use their online banking and eCommcerce services – a sector of particular focus given its vulnerability to fraud. Hear first-hand from four experts – including the chief engineer at Latch – on why cyber security needs to be at the fore of your concerns this year:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFB0M8YuckI[/youtube]

To further lock in this integration and make it accessible for everyone, it was also revealed that Latch is to be launched for Windows Mobile and Firefox OS (FFOS), the open standard OS we have supported from the get-go. This widens the net of people and services that can now use the application.

Demonstrating Latch at MWC this year makes perfect sense. One thing that stands out in Barcelona is the sheer scale of connectivity that is taking place. If we take a look just at the amount of connectivity on a single smartphone, it’s incredibly diverse and multi-dimensional. Through the integration announced today with third parties and the increased OS functionality, we’re putting better digital security right at the fingertips of people and businesses – and there has never been a more important time to do so.