Equifax Acquires More Security Tools

Credit reporting and identity management firm Equifax Inc. has acquired Anakam Inc., a San Diego-based vendor of information security software including two-factor authentication. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Two-factor authentication further confirms, following the entering of a username and password, the identity of a person accessing an information system. After the password is entered, for instance, the person's cell phone will ring, requiring the pressing of predetermined keys on the phone. The authentication is two-factor because the user is confirming something he knows (username/password) and something he has (cell phone or another specific device).

Anakam and its employees will become part of Equifax's Technology and Analytical Services business unit and continue to work out of San Diego. Atlanta-based Equifax will combine its elDverifier identity authentication service with Anakam's Identity Suite product line. The elDverifier service offers a method to confirm personal identity online via a few simple questions and answers.

More information is available at equifax.com and anakam.com.

--Joseph Goedert