Why We Started Pinn

Will Summerlin
Aug 31, 2018 · 2 min read
Part of the Pinn Team at our new office in Alpharetta, GA

We started Pinn to solve the fundamental problems with authentication. After talking to dozens of customers and hundreds of industry experts, we were disturbed by the state of the authentication market. Billions of dollars are spent on authentication programs, but many companies are still struggling to find the right solution. The problem really comes down to three issues: user experience, customization, and security.

Let’s start with user experience. There’s an age-old saying in security: you can have something that is secure or frictionless but not secure and frictionless. The same holds true for legacy authentication. Traditionally, a short password is easy to use, but lacks security. Conversely, a hard token is very secure, but painful to use.

Trying to find a balance between usability and security, many companies have starting using SMS 2FA or another form of OTPs. The balance isn’t working. Usability is poor and the security benefit is almost nonexistent. Recent events, like the Reddit hack, demonstrate the weakness of SMS 2FA and OTPs. Even the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) in its Special Publication 800–63 Guidelines highlights the risks associated with SMS and OTPs.

While security and usability are the fundamental challenges, the lack of customizability is a headache for many customers. Products like Duo and Google Authenticator force users to install a separate authenticator app. This annoys users, reduces the brand value of the customer, and complicates the architecture and implementation.

We started Pinn to solve these core problems. We’ve taken a completely fresh approach to authentication that incorporates device security, physical biometrics, and behavioral biometrics. We’ve innovated with key features like palm authentication, keystroke dynamics, transaction signing, and adaptive policy. Our delivery model leverages APIs and SDKs with complete customizability — allowing customers to tailor the user experience, maintain brand value, and deploy with Stripe-like simplicity.

At the end of the day, we’re making customizable authentication secure and frictionless.

P..S. Our team is growing quickly. In the last 6 months, we’ve closed our Series A, opened a second office in Alpharetta, GA, and kicked-off our European expansion. We’re always hiring great people — if you’re interested in joining us reach out to hiring@pinn.ai

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Stay up-to-date on our latest articles, press announcements, and online conversation about cybersecurity and how Pinn is making a difference.

Will Summerlin

Written by

Founder and CEO at Pinn

Securely Yours

Stay up-to-date on our latest articles, press announcements, and online conversation about cybersecurity and how Pinn is making a difference.

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