Intel Acquires PasswordBox to Deal “Password Fatigue”

Intel buys PasswordBox to reduce “password fatigue” of enterprises as well as consumers.

In an effort to strengthen Intel security portfolio Intel has bought Montreal based startup PasswordBox, an identity management service to help users in reducing “pain of passwords” letting them log on to a range of websites and services with just one click.

With the accelerating growthof cloud-based services, the issue of passwords and managing them is a very real side effect and headache of Internet life today, both for enterprises as well as consumers. Intel is directly trying to address that with this acquisition.

PasswordBox lets users store login credentials in what the company calls a virtual safety deposit box. When surfing the Web, users can click on the sites they want to login to and PasswordBox handles the login.

The tool, which has over 14 million downloads, will become a part of the Safe Identity organization within Intel’s Security Group, the company said Monday.

Intel Security is planning to use PasswordBox’s one-click login system for mobile devices and browsers to reduce what it calls “password fatigue.”

PasswordBox was founded in 2012 and operates out of Montreal, where it employs 44 people. All of them have joined Intel Security. The purchase price for the privately held Canadian start-up was not disclosed.

Earlier this year, Intel rebranded security software maker McAfee Inc, which it acquired for about $7.7 billion in 2011, as Intel Security Group. This acquisition of PasswordBox clearly reflects Intel’s intention to build more services and hardware beyond its core chip business.