Mobile messaging service provider Clickatell has partnered with RSA, the security division of EMC, to deliver a mobile authentication service using SMS text messaging.

This technology partnership is because security needs are evolving rapidly. The service is intended to meet the growing demands of customers' needs for a flexible, scalable and intuitive authentication system that allows for remote access.

"Today people are more and more likely to leave their wallet at home than leave their cell phone," said Chuck Drake, executive vice president of Clickatell, Redwood City, CA. "With so many employees working remotely, letting them access the applications and company sites they need via mobile only makes sense."

RSA is enterprise security company with 17,000 companies that use its authentication service to let employees access company applications and sites.

SMS is the ideal form of communication to help enterprises and government agencies provide one-time passwords to mobile employees, contractors and partners. Texts are timely and direct messages received and sent in seconds.

Additionally, the ubiquity of mobile phones makes them a reliable and convenient method of reaching the intended party. But security is an issue, which RSA addresses. For example, RSA SecurID one-time passwords expire after a brief time.

As a result of Clickatell's collaboration with RSA, users who don't typically carry an RSA SecurID two-factor authentication token can now receive an RSA-generated one-time password via text message directly to their phone.

This allows for immediate and secure access to the corporate network without requiring physical tokens to be assigned or software to be installed.

In addition, this technology partnership provides enterprises with a business continuity option that is designed to enable broad-based secure remote access to corporate resources even during a business crisis.

Two-factor authentication combines something the user knows with something he or she has, providing a more reliable and secure level of user identity assurance than static and reusable passwords.

Having started out almost 10 years ago, Clickatell has 8,300 enterprise customers in the United States and worldwide across many industries including banking, healthcare, government services and insurance.

"It is important to understand the role that RSA plays in the security industry," Mr. Drake said.

"Allowing their customers to authenticate via their mobile devices is huge," he said. "It is basically one of the key highlights of the year. It's the next version of authentication managing and allowing mobile authentication."