Sift to Acquire Keyless to Unlock Passwordless Authentication and Eliminate Account Takeover Fraud

If you’re anything like me, you have dozens if not hundreds of online accounts, and that means different passwords for each one. Many of my day-to-day activities—shopping, ordering food, paying bills, catching up with friends, going to work—are increasingly done virtually, and in real time. That level of convenience has been transformative but it comes with challenges. While password managers can help keep track of all the different login credentials I use, they ultimately mask the real problem: limitations of passwords themselves.

There’s also the widespread problem of password hygiene. Most people know they shouldn’t reuse passwords across different apps and services, but few of us actually take the time to create unique, hard-to-crack passwords whenever we create a new account. If a fraudster acquires your login information for one site, there’s a good chance it will work for another site. Poor password hygiene has led to an increase in account takeover (ATO) attacks, which have reached new and sustained heights. And it’s happening at scale—cybercriminals are using automation to steal stored account value, payment information, and other personal data from thousands of accounts at a time. While consumers may be the immediate target, it’s the businesses consumers engage with who are responsible for stopping ATO and protecting digital identities––all while still delivering frictionless and fast experiences trusted users have come to expect. 

Today, I’m proud to share that Sift has acquired Keyless, a pioneer in passwordless and multi-factor authentication. Keyless’ privacy-preserving biometric authentication technology eliminates account takeover (ATO) fraud due to weak or stolen passwords, phishing, and credential reuse while allowing users to log in to their accounts and apps, across their devices, with nothing more than a glance at their camera.

That’s why we’re excited to welcome Keyless into the Sift portfolio—their patented technology fully encrypts all biometric or personally identifiable information and never stores it in any one place, meaning there’s nothing for bad actors to steal. This is especially important for highly regulated industries like financial institutions that have to adhere to stringent privacy and data control regulations.

With the acquisition of Keyless, we hope to unlock a passwordless future—one that is safe, secure, and free of account takeover fraud. With Sift and Keyless together, businesses and their users can be protected from account takeover attacks while preserving privacy and reducing friction. 

And I personally can’t wait for my digital experience to be password-free.

For more information about the acquisition, check out our press release. And for those who are interested in learning more about Keyless from one of our Digital Trust & Safety experts, click here.