The Arcot Advisor - Spotlight

   
 

CA SiteMinder Gains Superior Security

As one the world's largest information technology (IT) management software companies, Computer Associates (CA) unifies and simplifies managing enterprise-wide IT. CA SiteMinder enables financial firms to mitigate IT security risks while improving the user's Web application experience. It is a centralized Web access management system, allowing user authentication and single sign-on, policy-based authorization, identity federation and auditing of access to Web applications and portals.

Security risk: usernames and passwords
The common way for authenticating SiteMinder users is with usernames and passwords. Usernames and passwords are the weakest link in any identity management scheme since they are easily hacked or stolen. This simple identification system invites identity fraud and provides criminals access to critical network resources or financial information by masquerading as legitimate users.

Also, simple usernames and passwords do not meet best practices and regulatory guidelines for protecting user identities. Recognizing this weakness, CA partnered with Arcot to fill the identity security hole in SiteMinder.

In the past, enterprises found it difficult to upgrade SiteMinder users to stronger authentication. They faced deploying expensive hardware technologies, such as one-time password (OTP) tokens, smart cards or USB drives. Companies with thousands or even millions of users found the upgrade cost prohibitive. Worse, these costly technologies meant changing user behavior and business processes. This produced significantly higher operational costs and dramatically increased the number of help desk calls.

WebFort provides security and user simplicity
Arcot WebFort™ and ArcotID™ strengthen SiteMinder identity security without the disadvantages of hardware-based security initiatives.  Benefits include:

  • Cost efficiency. The Arcot solution uses a secure software token rather than expensive hardware alternatives.
  • Simplicity. Unlike OTP tokens or USB drives, Arcot's solution is a fast, simple implementation.
  • Integration. Adding WebFort to SiteMinder requires no changes to the end-user login process or a company's core business methods, making for a simple, streamlined process.

A patented Software Smart Card that provides hardware-strength protection for users' identities, ArcotID also keeps the simplicity of a password for customers. Companies have several choices for delivering ArcotID, including a Flash client that installs silently with no user interaction.

Arcot's partnership with CA enhances SiteMinder by adding strong authentication to user access. Arcot can quickly and easily upgrade SiteMinder users to strong authentication without changing their current usernames and passwords or how they login.

For further information about Arcot's software-based security solutions, contact Arcot at 408-969-6100 or visit www.arcot.com.
 

 

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