RSA gets smart with $12m deal

Online authentication and encryption firm, RSA Security today announced the $12m acquisition of smartcard and biometrics specialist 3-G International.

The purchase of the 50 strong, Virginia based, 3-G International is aimed to push RSA's expansion into the multi-application smartcard market.

Tim Pickard, a strategic marketing director at RSA, said: "This acquisition allows us to participate more fully in the authentication market. They also have an element of biometric expertise, which is an area that we will be increasingly involved with."

RSA also released a branded version of 3-G's smartcard authentication system that supports Java applications and public key infrastructure (PKI)-based digital signing.

The smartcard technology, called Secure ID Passage, includes facilities to log-on remotely to a corporate network, encrypt email, access restricted buildings and will ultimately allow users to make payments.

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