Security startup Nok Nok Labs wants to rid the world of passwords

Startup Nok Nok Labs has developed a security protocol that asks end users to substitute stronger authentication tools such as fingerprints and voice recognition for the usual user names and passwords.

Named after the classic knock-knock joke, Nok Nok Labs wants to revolutionize online identity authentication with tools that already exist on user devices, such as a camera, a touch screen and a microphone, said Phillip Dunkelberger, Nok Nok’s CEO and founder of encryption company PGP Corp., which Symantec Corp. acquired in 2010. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Nok Nok has taken on $15 million from DCM and Onset Ventures.

Usernames and passwords have existed since the mainframe era, and authentication hasn’t changed much over the years, Dunkelberger said. Nok Nok wants to help clients ensure that end users are who they say they are. It’s not perfectly secure, Dunkelberger said, but it is considerably more secure than a text password. Companies can sign up for the protocol, which will ask individual users if they would like to use existing verification methods on their devices instead of a password.