By Renee Boucher Ferguson
TORONTO, Ont.―Diversinet Corp, an R&D-based mobile communications company, has received a new U.S. Patent for an encryption method that looks to address mHealth data security concerns.
Announced November 2, Diversinet’s Anti-Cloning Encryption Method, or U.S. Patent #8,051,297, uses encryption methods to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive medical data on a mobile device—a smartphone or tablet, for example—and prevents access to the data if its transferred to another mobile device. Unlike some encryption methods that use a PIN number to lock and unlock data, Diversinet’s technology uses characteristics of a mobile device’s unique identity—its serial number—to create the encryption passkey.
The idea with the Anti-Cloning Encryption Method is that it offers a layer of security that enables healthcare payers and providers to safely utilize information that patients carry on their mobile devices. The information is accessible even when patients are temporarily out of network coverage areas.
The company develops and sells two major products, its MobiSecure Communicator, an application that enables healthcare organizations to deploy HIPPA-compliant mHealth apps on any mobile device, supporting secure data messaging, for example, in the form of alerts, question/response and advanced questionnaires. It also lets users manage healthcare data from a mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer.
At the same time Diversinet markets its MobiSecure Gateway SDK (software development kit) that helps healthcare developers build MobiSecure functionality into their mHealth applications. The security functionality includes encryption and OATH-standards based One-Time Password for authentication.
This latest encryption patent—Diversinet has 16 security and mobility patents from the US, Canada and Israel, with 32 applications in the works—is integrated into the company’s MobiSecure mHealth products.
