Wausau entrepreneur touts new online security product

WAUSAU — Online account hacking and password-swiping will be a thing of the past if the vision of a local entrepreneur becomes reality.

Wausau's Alicia Cramer has started a new business she says will provide online users with an ultra-high level of security.

It's called Tokinu, a system that utilizes a credit card-sized device that generates dynamic, changing passwords to allow users to log in securely to websites without the fear of accounts being hacked or passwords being stolen.

The 34-year-old Cramer, former owner of Wausau Hypnotherapy, said she chose this venture because she wanted to make a difference in an online world where hacking has become commonplace.

"This is so rampant it's ridiculous," Cramer said. "It's almost every other day I'm getting some spam, some phishing scam, somebody telling me that their credit card was compromised, or getting an email from a friend saying, 'I'm on vacation and I got mugged and somebody stole all my stuff.'"

Cramer said other anti-hacking remedies are out there, but her system is unique.

"There are password managers that are supposed to be safer and some banks have two-factor authentication, but there's nothing that really protects average, everyday people like you and me," she said. "So I started to talk to people that were smarter about security than I was and we started to put together a solution that can really help everyone."

Facebook, for example, uses what's called a fixed password, which Cramer said is extremely vulnerable. She said Tokinu is different.

"Nothing like it exists right now, where you log into the Tokinu network with what's called a dynamic password, meaning it's a password that changes virtually every 30 seconds," Cramer said. "If a thief were to somehow compromise that password and try to use it to log in, it's going to be useless in literally a matter of seconds."

To continue the Facebook example, Cramer said logging in to the social media site using Tokinu would be an integration between the Facebook server and the Tokinu server, which would mean there's no fixed password anymore for your Facebook account.

"The thief can't access that. They can't go into your account and change your password on you like they're doing now," she said.

Of course, for the system to work, companies such as Facebook have to be on board. And Google. And Amazon. And so on.

Cramer said those companies will be sold on the system when they're convinced it's a feature that consumers want.

"Our biggest challenge, being completely transparent, is proving to companies like your Gmail account, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, that users want this, they want this level of security," Cramer said. "Because the way that we can protect our users is when a company like that integrates our security for log-in."

There's also the matter of building a customer base and raising funds to pay for device manufacturing and server coding.

Cramer said both the customer base and funds are being targeted through pre-orders of Tokinu (the name is a take-off on the word "token," which is used in two-factor authentication). The initial cost is $50, which includes the cost of the device and the first year's subscription. There's a subscription fee of $25 a year thereafter. More information is at https://tokinu.com.

In addition to the secure log-in function, Cramer said Tokinu also will offer an online identity verification system for more secure transactions.

The nature of the challenge isn't lost on someone who coaches entrepreneurs and who has experience in business marketing and consulting.

"There's no denying that this is the biggest undertaking of my entire life, because we're creating something completely new from the ground up," Cramer said.

Bob Dohr can be reached at 715-845-0660. Find him on Twitter as @BobDohr1.