13 May Most Advanced U.S. Computing Center Gives Birth To MFA Technology

Evo Security’s enterprise-grade multi-factor authentication was conceived at TACC

– Steven T. Kroll

Northport, N.Y. – May 13, 2019

A lot can happen over a cup of java. Relationships begin; old ones rekindle. And there are those times when two minds — inspired by caffeine – form a new company.

When Mike Roth, CEO of Austin, Texas based Evo Security, developers of strong enterprise-grade MFA (multi-factor authentication), met with the director of the Texas Advanced Computer Center (TACC), home to the fifth-fastest supercomputer on the planet, there were no expectations. They were simply having coffee together. And yet, this meeting morphed into a new service that helps organizations throughout the world add another layer of security to their systems.

The University of Texas at Austin created TACC in 2001 with the mission to enable discoveries that advance science and society through the application of advanced computing technologies. To date, TACC has received multiple federal and state grants, partnered with governmental agencies such as NASA, and worked with industries from big pharma to energy companies to leading medical centers.

As TACC grew over the years, it became a hot target for bad actors. Looking to secure their resources, the leadership team knew that old-school logins would not work, especially with a global footprint of over 11,000 users. This led to investigating MFA as a security tool. However, the available technology was too costly and not up to snuff for the engineers and scientists. So, they built their own MFA technology.

Enter Mike Roth. After leaving private equity and engineering management, Roth was looking for his next venture. He did his research in new technologies and industries, and found that all the best work was being done at supercomputing centers like TACC. He reached out to the director, and the two connected immediately. They decided that cybersecurity was an important, scalable vertical, and the MFA technology was already in place.

“In 2018, Evo Security began as a provider of a powerful multi-factor authentication SaaS-based solution that integrates with almost any system, web application, or directory,” says Roth. “The director, CISO, leading network engineer and leading software engineer of TACC were all involved — all of whom are part of the Evo team.”

Evo Security’s product is flexible and integrates with organizations easily by offering numerous options for MFA such as an app for iOS and Android, key fobs, SMS, email, phone, SSH, Yubikeys, and other U2F devices. It also works as a cloud-only solution, and in a hybrid or on-premise capacity. Roth describes using the technology as going through TSA Precheck versus the traditional security-screening process.  

The days of using only passwords as security steps are long gone. Breaches occur daily through phishing, social engineering, and cracking weak login credentials. For these reasons, MFA has become one of the simplest — and most effective — measures to strengthen security and protect personal identity information, intellectual property, and other sensitive data.

As Roth says, “MFA is simply the best prevention solution out there.”

“Affordable MFA is a big-gainer for the cybersecurity industry,” says Steve Morgan, founder and editor-in-chief at Cybersecurity Ventures. “The price point for enterprise MFA has been a barrier to adoption. Evo Security may have cracked the code on that.”

Evo Security is currently focused on the industry verticals where authentication and data privacy are mission critical — which includes healthcare, government, financial services, insurance, and legal.

– Steven T. Kroll is a public relations specialist and staff writer at Cybercrime Magazine.