Microsoft acquires mobile security authentications firm PhoneFactor

Acquirement comes as rumors of a "Surface" phone begin to rise

Microsoft has acquired multi-factor authentication (MFA) security firm PhoneFactor, as it looks to develop strong authentication for its range of cloud and on-premises platforms.

PhoneFactor is a MFA solutions company that offers customers a multi-step authentication tool which leverages a user's phone. The firm offers MFA solutions for government, finance, and enterprise companies.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

"The acquisition of PhoneFactor will help Microsoft bring effective and easy to use MFA to our cloud services and on-premises applications," said corporate vice president for Microsoft's server and tools division Bharat Shah.

"In addition, PhoneFactor's solutions will help Microsoft customers, partners and developers enhance the security of almost any authentication scenario."

PhoneFactor started in 2001 as phone-based authentication solutions firm. The company offers multi-step verification for remote access VPN systems, on-premises security, and cloud-based offerings.

The security company gives customers a two-step security verification system that offers call, text, or mobile app authentication. PhoneFactor says its solution removes the need for physical tokens, like keycards, in the MLA process.

"When we initially launched PhoneFactor, we had a vision to deliver strong authentication as a seamless part of almost every process where an individual needs to access confidential or proprietary data," said PhoneFactor chief executive Timothy Sutton.

"We wanted to solve this problem broadly, whether it's from a on-premises server or in the cloud, or whether the individual is using a PC, smartphone, or tablet. Phones provided the ideal platform: easy to use for the masses at scale, yet also capable of supporting enterprise-scale implementation of multi-factor authentication."