Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) campaign to bake security into its processors gained a new adherent as MasterCard decided to use the chip maker's Identity Protection Technology. Eventually, MasterCard holders could make online purchases via smartphones or other devices that have a wireless payment method called PayPass, reports Kelly Jackson Higgins at Dark Reading.

IPT, which inserts a one-time password token into the processor, essentially turns a laptop or device into a second authentication factor. Processors with IPT technology built into them hit the shelves over the summer, and devices from HP (NYSE: HPQ), Lenovo and Dell as well as Intel are using them.

As Higgins notes, hardware-based security tokens haven't gained great traction among consumers or many organizations because they are relatively expensive, even though online banking and other highly sensitive computing environments make use of them. Two-factor authentication that makes use of smartphones or other user devices is beginning to look like a more viable option than before.

For more:
- see Kelly Jackson Higgins's article at Dark Reading

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