Product of the Day: Crypto-Server 6.3 Authentication Solution

Product: Crypto-Server 6.3 Authentication Solution

Manufacturer: CRYPTOCard Corporation

Address: 340 March Road, Suite 600, Ottawa, ON, K2K 2E4 Canada

Telephone: 800-307-7042

URL: www.cryptocard.com

One of best ways to hack into your network is with stolen passwords. To administer a password program, users sometimes will have multiple passwords and a regular 6 month update for new passwords. This causes user confusion, lost of time by IT departments for forgotten passwords and defend against phishing attacks. To help prevent this and better secure your networks is to use a two-factor authentication solution. A two factor solution uses a token (smart card/hardware/software) and pin number to secure access.

CRYPTOCard, a leader in authentication technology, will launch CRYPTO-Server 6.3, the first authentication solution designed specifically for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 server platforms at Linux World Canada (April 18-20). CRYPTOCard will demonstrate CRYPTO-Server's centralized authentication and management capability, emphasizing ease-of-use and tight integration with LDAP directory services. Visitors will also learn how to enforce two-factor authentication as the only way to access a Linux workstation, in addition to locking down access through VPN's, Portals, web servers and more, regardless of the desktop computing environment.

Incorporating CRYPTOCard's familiar Bank ATM-style logon, that has proven to eliminate the user resistance usually encountered when organizations attempt to implement an additional layer of security. CRYPTO-Server couples something in the user's possession (a multi-function smart card, hardware token, or software token), with something the user knows (their PIN), to make it simple to positively identify all Linux users attempting VPN or Web-based access.The user simply logs on through the graphical user interface, enters their PIN & authenticates against the CRYPTO-Server--remove card and display manager (KDM, GDM, XDM) logon locks station.

By generating a unique password for every log-on attempt, CRYPTO-Server makes stolen credentials useless to hackers while simultaneously ensuring users no longer have to memorize complicated credentials, significantly reducing the help-desk costs associated with resetting forgotten passwords, and the obvious security risk resulting from users writing down their passwords.

CRYPTO-Server's Remote access functionality offers support for PPP, SSH, Samba, and VPN and can be used in conjunction with a Smart Card to experience "One-PIN-and-You're-In."

"It is becoming increasingly obvious that an organization cannot guarantee system security if it cannot authenticate each individual user. And, with the introduction of CRYPTO-Logon, CRYPTO-Server makes this a simple process for the fast-growing number of Linux users," explained Malcolm MacTaggart, President & CEO, CRYPTOCard Corporation. CRYPTOCard is proud to be the first authentication provider to provide Linux users with true ATM-style "One-PIN-and-You're-In" secure desktop, web, and remote access.

A true enterprise solution offering High Availability, CRYPTO-Server 6.3 has no single point of failure--switching to a backup server in the event of system failure.Additionally, CRYPTO-Server 6.3 makes it easy for organizations to create a token-deployment database by reading on a real-time basis from OpenLDAP, while the solution's CRYPTO-Deploy component makes it equally simple for administrators to instantly distribute software tokens from any computer, to any user. CRYPTO-Server's versatile software tokens can reside on a user's desktop, laptop, multi-function smart card, or Pocket PC.

CRYPTO-Server 6.3's other components include CRYPTO-Kit, which provides developers with the tools to make it simple to integrate CRYPTOCard's technology with existing security applications/systems; CRYPTO-Deploy, to facilitate the deployment and activation of tokens; and CRYPTO-Migration; which provides RSA Migration functionality that enables organizations to switch from an alternative system (CRYPTOCard's tokens, with replaceable batteries, are deployed once and can be utilized indefinitely).

Deutsche Bank utilizes the RB-1 pinpad token to authenticate its high net worth clients. Realizing that its high net worth clients need to be able to transfer funds from any part of the world, Deutsche Bank issues them with CRYPTOCard's RB-1 pinpad token to enable them to positively authenticate themselves when calling the bank. The client simply calls the bank and enters their PIN number into the wireless token--duplicating the very familiar ATM experience we all know. The bank then receives the PIN number and sends out a randomly-generated password to the user's token. The user can then read back the password from the token screen to the bank staff member to positively authenticate themselves. As the token is useless without the client's PIN number, Deutsch Bank is able to guarantee the user's identity while simultaneously providing the client with a simple, and familiar ATM-style process.