Press Release

PALO ALTO, Calif. and STOCKHOLM, May. 29, 2012 – Yubico, the leading provider of simple, open online identity protection, today announced that the company’s easy and cost-efficient YubiKey is rapidly becoming the technology of choice for schools and municipalities in Sweden to meet government requirements for strong two-factor authentication. Lerum Kommun is one of the most recent municipalities deploying YubiKeys for staff and students to securely access cloud based school systems. 

The increased problems with online identity theft have required governments around the world to take action and demand a higher level of security for a growing number of both industry and government services. In Sweden, The Swedish Data Inspection Board requires all local e-governments and schools to implement two-factor authentication to replace standard username and password login. Two-factor authentication combines the use of a token or smart card, providing a secure One-Time Password (OTP), with something the users knows such as a password or PIN.

Lerum municipality is one among several Swedish local e-governments and schools that have chosen Yubico’s YubiKey with Svensk e-identitet’s cloud based identity service, to meet the requirements of two-factor authentication that suits citizens under 18 years old. Svensk e-identitet’s service manages login to the school systems, as well as making it possible to automatically deploy YubiKeys at a large scale. Both staff and students use the YubiKey for secure access to the school systems. Lerum has currently implemented more than 5,000 YubiKeys.

“The Swedish Data Inspection Board required our preschool and schools to move from username and passwords to strong two-factor authentication” said Anna Mybeck, ICT Coordinator Lerum’s municipality. “We choose the YubiKey as it offers great security, is very robust and easy for children to use. We also highly appreciate that it works well on iPads and tablet computers as well.”

Manufactured by robots in Sweden and in the United States, the YubiKey simplifies the process of logging in with a OTP token and eliminates the need to re-type long pass codes from a display device. The YubiKey is practically indestructible and fits easily on a keychain. It works on all computers and platforms without the need for installing client software.

“Yubico’s mission is to make secure online identity protection easy and affordable for everyone,” said Stina Ehrensvard, CEO and Founder of Yubico. “Thousands of school children, logging securely in everyday, with a simple click and to all their school application, validate the unmatched ease of use of our technology.”

For more information, please visit yubico.com and e-identitet.se.

About Yubico

Yubico is the leading provider of simple, open online identity protection. The company’s flagship product, the YubiKey®, uniquely combines driverless USB hardware with open source software. More than a million users in 100 countries rely on the YubiKey two-factor authentication, enabling instant and secure access to computers, networks and cloud applications. Customers range from individual Internet users to e-governments and Fortune 500 companies. Founded in 2007, Yubico is privately held with offices in California, Sweden and UK. For more information, please visit yubico.com.