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Authy and Twilio: A Year of Transformation

Not long ago Authy was a small start-up with a big vision: to bring strong and easy-to-implement, two-factor authentication to web and mobile developers everywhere. When we started there were already a handful of mobile authentication apps floating around, but not many users were adopting them. We built Authy on top of Twilio APIs and, ever since, Twilio has been powering the delivery of our authentication solution, making it simple for developers to build more with less code. We also made the user experience so simple that users didn’t have to jump through hoops just to stay secure—hence better adoption.

Our relationship with Twilio was so tight that, at the end of 2014, when they asked us to be part of the family, we said ‘yes’. Today we continue to be laser-focused not only on the great usability of our APIs but also on delivering an excellent end-user experience. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

 

  • By being a part of Twilio, we’ve been able to scale our services to provide you with 24×7 customer support. And we can broaden our support and technical resources internationally, well beyond our initial footprint in the US & Colombia. Plus, we’re still growing!
  • We’ve also been able to transition billing from Authy to Twilio, and introduce new, simpler, and less expensive pricing that eliminates per-user charges and provides a free tier.
  • We launched a global channel program with partners like Dell Security, to introduce Authy to a new audience of corporate customers looking to secure their enterprise infrastructures and apps.
  • iPhone users can authenticate directly from an Apple Watch without having to take out their phone. Authy for Apple Watch is available is available on the App Store
  • We launched a way for developers to allow their users to approve or deny authentication requests by simply responding to a push notification. Not only does it provide strong security, but Authy OneTouch can also be used to protect user logins and high-value transactions, such as money transfers, mass data changes, or in-game trading.
  • We joined The FIDO Alliance, a coalition seeking to move the world beyond passwords. That’s our mission too!  We also sat on a panel during National Cyber Security Awareness Month to discuss the challenges of changing login procedures, the reticence of users to adopt and deploy 2FA, and what the future holds. See what we learned during the first 2Factor Tuesday.
  • Twitch, the leading streaming service in gaming and entertainment, rolled out Authy 2FA to their 100 million+ monthly users. Game On!
  • We met friends and fans at a bunch of events, including FinDEVr in SF & NY, RailsGirlsBogotá, Gamesbeat 2015, Money2020, RailsIsrael 2015, RailsConf 2016, The North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami, Finovate Europe in London and, more recently, InterConnect 2016 and the 2016 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Two popular talks include Authy lead architect,  Dan Killmer presenting 2FA to the fintech community at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami, and Simon Thorpe, Authy Product Manager, showing how 2FA can be used to add all sorts of security to your Minecraft experience.
  • Lastly, we continue to maintain a 99.999% uptime rate!

We’ve been busy, and we’re super excited for the year ahead, including lots of events, new partnerships, website improvements and new Authy app features. When you’re tackling how to kill passwords (one of the most complex problems today), there’s no time to rest. 

If you’ve had a great experience with our API or app, or would like to bring a feature request to our attention, please tweet us at @Authy.

About the author Authy

Authy is simple & secure two-factor authentication, available as a free mobile or desktop app, from Twilio. To get yours, click on the download button at the top of the page.

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