Internet Solutions' (IS) business customers are the first local recipients of locally-developed mobile-based authentication solution, FireID.
The company says its corporate customers will now be able to get a much higher level of security than ever before, with around 600 end-users connecting through their virtual private network (VPN) already receiving the protection.
Ian Shak, security business unit manager at IS, says: "Over time we realised we needed two-factor authentication for our clients' users which involves a username, password and something else."
Current one-time password authentications, says Shak, have some limitations, such as being expensive, while hardware - such as tokens - break and are easily lost.
“FireID's one-time passwords are generated algorithmically and out of band, which means they do not rely on the Internet or cellular airwaves for authentication. In addition, we use a normal username and password and we encrypt access with 128-bit SSL,” says Shak.
The company has now integrated FireID into its VPN security layer, SecureConnect, and says it is offering all customers a choice of FireID or a hardware token for authentication.
Feedback from IS staff members who tested FireID, says Shak, was very positive. He explains they liked the fact that they no longer needed a keyring token and could log onto the VPN from home using their cellphone.
Shak says there will be a natural progression in the uptake of the solution.
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