Montreal’s PasswordBox Acquired by Intel Security

Intel has acquired Montreal-based password management software company PasswordBox.

Founded in 2012, PasswordBox has chalked up an impressive series of wins and collaborations in its short life. A significant round of VC money was raised earlier this year, led by OMERS Ventures, and the PasswordBox app was downloaded more than 14 million times. The app also won the best mobile app award at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show.

“PasswordBox has spent the last two years building a product that people love, trust and use around the world every day,” said Daniel Robichaud, CEO and co-founder of PasswordBox. “We share Intel Security’s vision of simple, secure access and identity protection across all platforms and devices. Together, we believe we can offer our customers world-class technology, expertise and support to bring such access anywhere – all backed by Intel.”

PasswordBox had eight employees when they began, expanding to 44, all of whom will join Intel Security effective as of the date of the acquisition.

PasswordBox’s offering is an easy-to-use patent-pending one-tap (on mobile devices) and one-click (in browsers) login manager, eliminating the need for internet users to write down or memorize long, cumbersome passwords.

“Everyone can relate to password fatigue,” said Chris Young, senior vice president and general manager of Intel Security Group. “The PasswordBox service has already brought relief to millions of consumers who now enjoy simple, instant login. Intel Security and PasswordBox share the same goal of improving digital identity protection across all devices and platforms. We believe we have the technology, expertise and reach to bring simple, secure access to consumers worldwide.”

Consulting firm Deloitte recently reported that more than 90% of user-generated passwords are vulnerable to hacking, adding that the 10,000 most common passwords could access close to 98% of all accounts. Similarly, Experian found that while the average user had 26 password-protected online accounts, they used only five different passwords, making it delightfully easy for hacker to access all of your accounts once they’ve figured out that your cat’s name holds the key to your online life.

Nearly 37% of users have needed to click the “Forgot your password?” link on at least one website per month, and then gone through the tedious process of replacing the lost word.

PasswordBox will become part of the Safe Identity organization within the Intel Security Group, founded by Intel in January 2014.

Safe Identity is the arm of Santa Clara, California-based Intel’s efforts to eliminate the password, one of the trickier holdovers from 1990s technological life that simply refuses to die.