App turns iPhone into one-time password generator

MobileID can turn the iPhone into an authentication device

Two-factor security firm Deepnet Security has launched a new system designed to turn an iPhone into a one-time password generator.

The company claimed that adding its MobileID authentication system to the Apple handset removes the need for users to carry around any separate encryption hardware devices or tokens, while still protecting the content held on the device.

Deepnet referred to the iPhone as the "business communication tool of choice " and quotes a user share of 27 per cent.

"As the use of iPhones to access corporate information remotely increases, so too does the need for built-in security that makes it easy for the user to authenticate themselves," said Yurong Lin, chief executive at Deepnet.

"We have been using MobileID to transform mobile phones, PDAs and PCs into authentication tokens for years, but now have the ability to do this on the iPhone, enhancing our unified authentication platform."

New figures from analyst firm ChangeWave Research suggest that the iPhone is the second most popular handset among US mobile users.

Paul Carton, director of research at ChangeWave, claimed that just over a third of all consumers looking to buy a smartphone in the next three months will get an iPhone, and that roughly three quarters of all users are "very satisfied " with their handsets.

BlackBerry devices are the current consumer favourite, accounting for 40 per cent of all smartphone sales.