In-Depth

Briefs: Resetting passwords, antivirus deal

Getting colleagues’ permission to reset passwords; Central Command offers jilted Linux users antivirus discount

• By Mathew Schwartz
• 06/25/2003

In a bid to make forgotten passwords less of a hassle for IT departments, yet password resetting more secure, London-based Little cat Z (LCZT) released its new, Web-based approach to password resets, Chandelier, for Microsoft NT and 2000 domains.

“Within most organizations, when users forgets their password they typically phone their help desk function to get a reset. This is expensive, prone to delay, and insecure," says Frank O'Dwyer, LCZ chief technology officer. Citing studies that peg the cost per password reset at $25 each, LCZ notes that any solution to automate password resets will help save companies money.

Here’s where LCZ differs: Many password reset programs require a user input a “secret” word—mother’s maiden name, for example—and then they can reset their password. Such approaches are not exactly ultra-secure. Chandelier, on the other hand, requires one or more individuals to first sign off on another’s password reset. Exactly who has permission to do that gets set in advance. Each person or domain can then have unique criteria for whether to sign off on a reset. It can be as simple as a phone call or e-mail, or perhaps require face-to-face verification. For instance, when the CFO needs to reset his or her password, three people—drawn from either upper management or the board of directors—might first have to authorize it.

For more information on Chandelier, visit www.LittlecatZ.com.

Central Command Offers Jilted Users an Antivirus Discount

Microsoft’s recent, not-such-a-surprise announcement (http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=1806) that it plans to buy the technology and assets of Romanian antivirus provider GeCAD Software and discontinue the company’s RAV Antivirus product line, left some of that software’s Linux users in a huff.

Now, another antivirus company, Central Command Inc., says it will offer a 25 percent discount off of list prices for users—Linux or otherwise—who switch from RAV Antivirus to its own Vexira antivirus software. No word from Microsoft yet on whether it plans to launch its own line of Linux antivirus software.

Further information is available at www.centralcommand.com.