US security software specialist, Securant Technologies, wants help from other vendors to develop a standard that will allow web users to access multiple secure sites using a single sign-in procedure.

Called AuthXML, the specification is based on XML and enables users to gain access to secure areas of different web sites once they have been given authorisation from any one of the sites.

For example, a user that has been given access to their private details on their bank's web site after providing the correct personal information, could also enter secure areas of other un-related sites that have partnered with that financial institution.

Securant is seeking to get AuthXML ratified as an industry standard and is calling for help from its competitors and other third parties to develop the specification further. AuthXML will also be presented to an industry standards body before the end of the year, but company officials declined to specify which organisation that would be.

Securant marketing director, Britta Glade, said: "AuthXML contains a packet of information that follows you from site to site. It's your identity which follows you through everything."

She said the technology is based on XML because the language is vendor-neutral, extendable and is platform and program independent.

Pete Lindstrom, senior analyst with consultancy the Hurwitz Group, praised the specification. He said: "A breakthrough standard like AuthXML offers tremendous gains for e-marketplaces, exchanges and enterprises. AuthXML transports the 'genetic code' of a user's personal transaction information from site to site with a single sign-on, creating opportunities for referrals and 'personal concierge' services while providing a singular user experience."