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Power Law company profile

AuthenTec

Cybersecurity · Melbourne, United States · Founded 1998

AuthenTec Inc. operated as a semiconductor and security solutions company, positioning itself as a key provider of mobile and network security before its acquisition. The company was founded in 1998 in Melbourne, Florida, as a spin-off from Harris Semiconductor. It was co-founded by F. Scott Moody, who had a background as a VP at Harris Semiconductor and served as AuthenTec's CEO. This experience within a major semiconductor firm provided the foundational knowledge to launch a venture focused on specialized security hardware. The firm's business model centered on developing and licensing intellectual property to major electronics manufacturers. Its product portfolio included fingerprint sensors, identity management software, and embedded security solutions for VPNs and networking systems. The core of its offering was the TruePrint smart sensor technology, which utilized a patented method of reading below the skin's surface to capture a clear fingerprint, combined with anti-spoofing technology to ensure only real fingerprints were authenticated. This technology served a business-to-business market, with clients including prominent computing and mobile companies like HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Nokia, and LG, as well as networking giants like Cisco. Revenue was generated through the sale of these hardware components and the licensing of its software and extensive patent portfolio, which numbered over 200 patents by the time of its acquisition. AuthenTec achieved several significant milestones, including a series of strategic acquisitions such as SafeNet's Embedded Security Solutions division in 2010. The company went public with an initial public offering in 2007, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker AUTH. A defining moment in its history came on July 27, 2012, when Apple Inc. acquired the company for $356 million. This acquisition was notable as it was Apple's second-largest at the time and marked the first time Apple had ever purchased a public company. Following the acquisition, AuthenTec's fingerprint sensor technology became the foundational component for Apple's Touch ID, first introduced on the iPhone 5s. Keywords: fingerprint sensors, mobile security, network security, biometrics, identity management, access control, encryption technology, semiconductor, Apple acquisition, Touch ID, Harris Semiconductor, Scott Moody, embedded security, VPN security, anti-spoofing, smart sensors, TruePrint, data protection, content protection, public company