Security protocols developed at the U.K.'s Oxford University with U.S. military funding are to be used to create a secure mobile payment app. The Oxcept protocols have also been tested for use in secure communications in disaster recovery situations.

OxCept, the company behind the OxCept protocols, is a spin-out company from Oxford University. It was set up by the university's technology transfer company, Isis Innovation, and uses security protocols developed at Oxford University's Department of Computer Science.

OxCept is developing a new peer-to-peer mobile payment app based on the security protocols. The software-based technology requires no cables or network connections, and there is no swiping, scanning or card reading. Also, no pass codes, account information or credit card details are disclosed.

"These protocols resist many of the threats such as so-called 'man in the middle' attacks associated with online security solutions," Professor Bill Roscoe of Oxford University's Department of Computer Science said in a statement. "We create security without having to rely on any pre-existing infrastructure such as a public key infrastructure, and we do it from the things human users know and trust."

For the past 12 years, Roscoe has led the university's research group responsible for developing and testing the protocols.

"At the moment, it is almost impossible to deter intruders and prying eyes using software," Shawn Modarresi, OxCept's president and cofounder, said in a statement. "As it becomes second nature for us to transmit delicate information between mobile devices, reliable software-based security protocols will be a key tool for all mobile users."

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