ICONLOOP and INITECH Sign MOU to Join Forces on DID-Based Next-Generation Private Authentication
Through the agreement, the two companies will link INITECH's technological competitiveness in the authentication and encryption segments of the information security market with ICONLOOP's blockchain-based DID capabilities, cooperating to develop a new private authentication system to replace Korea's accredited certificates and to create new customer value and business opportunities.
Since the passage of the full amendment to the Digital Signature Act — prepared to address the way the accredited certificate monopoly had held back technological and service innovation, inconveniencing users and impeding the development of the authentication market — DID technology, with its emphasis on self-sovereign identity and user convenience, has drawn attention as the next-generation means of identity verification.
With DID technology, a certificate issued once by a trusted institution is stored on the user's own device and checked for tampering via the blockchain, removing the need to have an already verified certificate re-confirmed through a certification authority every time. Users can manage and control their own certificates directly and submit information selectively when authentication is required, which is expected to maximize convenience as well.
Even so, a considerable share of authentication systems across finance, public institutions, and general enterprises still runs on infrastructure built around the existing accredited certificate framework, and that acts as a barrier to adopting new authentication systems.
To address this, ICONLOOP and INITECH plan to cooperate on building a next-generation private authentication system that preserves as much of the existing accredited certificate infrastructure as possible while using DID technology to let users manage and control their own personal data — securing safety and making authentication more convenient.
"Through this DID-based next-generation authentication business, we will raise the competitiveness of a Korean authentication market that had fallen behind because of accredited certificates," said ICONLOOP CEO JH Kim. "We will do our utmost so that more people can gain both technical understanding and real benefit through blockchain."
"Building on the authentication technology INITECH has developed over some 20 years in the information security market and the trust we have earned in the industry, we will create new value through the next-generation private authentication business," said INITECH CEO Seokmo Kang.
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