Access-management tools provider Entrust has released IdentityGuard, a new authentication product, in an attempt to combat the spread of identity theft and fraudulent activities such as phishing scams.

To coincide with the release the firm also announced the results of a survey of consumers' perceptions of online security. Eighty percent said they were worried that their ID would be stolen online; and 72 percent of people who do not use online financial services said they would do so if they thought that the systems were more secure.

IdentityGuard is designed to prevent identity theft by providing a second level of security, particularly on sites offering financial services.

Each user is given an IdentityGuard card with a grid containing random alphanumerical figures. Entrust said that because the system then requires users to enter specified combinations of the figures to log on, attackers would stand little chance of cracking both a log-in and the codes.

Philip Richardson, head of Entrust for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said that customers would be given an IdentityGuard card when they joined a bank or other online environment that required secure transactions. Each time they logged on they would be presented with three sets of co-ordinates, referring to their own individual grid, and they would then input these figures.

Richardson said the design of the card would appeal to firms because they could pass it to their customers without requiring any hardware or software upgrades, which, for example, might be needed for rival systems requiring the use of card readers.

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