Authentication technology startup Plurilock Security Solutions Inc. today announced it has landed a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to do further development on its advanced machine-to-machine authentication and anomaly detection tools.

The contract, funded through the DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program, will assist Plurilock in its development of intelligent M2M authentication. The technology is designed to enable devices on networks to detect instances in which adjacent devices have been replaced or tampered with, or may in other ways represent an increased security risk.

With the funding, DHS is seeking in part to enable future “internet of things” authentication in certain U.S. federal networks. The technology may also find other applications as M2M authentication becomes critical to the security of modern work environments.

“The contract demonstrates the interest that leading government agencies have in our behavioral biometrics technology and in the anomaly detection and artificial intelligence capabilities that power it,” Ian Paterson, chief executive officer of Plurilock, said in a statement. “These provide our organization with a natural advantage in developing machine-to-machine authentication solutions.”

Taking money from DHS at a time of civil unrest in the U.S. could be seen as being somewhat controversial, but that aside, the technology being developed here shouldn’t be. Plurilock’s AI-driven solution is designed to enable corporations to prevent, respond, analyze and report to security departments and external compliance agencies on the actions performed by employees.

The company also offers multifactor authentication without the need for phones or physical hardware through behavioral biometric authentication. The term biometric suggests finger or face scanning, but Plurilock’s technology does nothing of the sort, instead analyzing real-time micropatterns in keyboard, mouse and touchscreen activity to recognize users.

Based in Victoria, British Columbia, Plurilock has previously raised funding from Stonewood Ventures.

Image: Plurilock