ActivIdentity 4tress Delivers Granular Authentication Controls for BYOD
Helps mitigate risk across all major mobile operating systems.
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ActivIdentity has updated its 4TRESS products so users can easily choose which mobile and computer operating systems are allowed to run a soft token and which versions of the soft token are allowed.
As more enterprise and commerce workers use their personal smartphones and tablets in the workplace, known as bring your own device (BYOD), the ability to control those devices and secure organizational data becomes an unaddressed pain point, particularly among security-conscious organizations. This solution addresses that problem.
ActivIdentity 4TRESS provides complete multi-layered versatile strong authentication so enterprises can secure access conveniently and cost-effectively. This update enables soft token one-time-password (OTP) solutions to be easily controlled based on the type of OS and the version of the soft token to find the appropriate balance among security, convenience, and cost.
Even organizations that have developed a BYOD policy face workarounds from tech-savvy users. By adding in these control mechanisms, they can specify that users can only access data if they are using a particular operating system, for example. This means the system administrator can have a very specific user profile for who is accessing sensitive data, how they are doing it, and what type of device they are accessing it from.
New 4TRESS Authentication Server features include:
- Control over which soft token platform is used in a particular environment. For example, a user can decide to enable iOS, Windows and Blackberry but disable usage from Android and J2ME phones.
- Version control for any and all soft tokens. For example, a user could enable the usage of the soft token v.4.1.1 running on iOS but disable access from the soft token v4.0.1 running on iOS, or any other iteration. This provides customers with additional options for risk mitigation.
- Software version reports that lets users see how many end users they have from any type of operating system as well as the version of the soft token used. For example, a system administrator could run a report which would determine that 20 percent of users are running Android, and 30 percent of those are using soft token version 4.0.1 with the other 70 percent using version 4.1.1.
The latest version of the 4TRESS solution is available immediately for the Authentication Server and AAA Server for Remote Access solutions. It will be available in the first quarter of 2013 for the Authentication Appliance. More information is available here.