IBM and four partners on Wednesday announced what they call a "major breakthrough" in identity management designed to help business and government agencies protect assets, including IT systems and physical facilities, from unauthorized users.
IBM's Kent Blossom, director of the company's safety and security services, called the new smart card-based system a "first-time-ever" combination of a variety of physical and virtual security measures during a press briefing in Washington, D.C.
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The new system -- using IBM's Tivoli ID management software and products from ActivCard, Bioscrypt, ImageWare Solutions, and VeriSign -- allows clients to link biometric security, such as fingerprint scans, with applications and networks. In a demonstration, IBM employees created a smart card within minutes that could be used with a fingerprint scan for a company employee to gain access to a building and to the employee's computer. The card can also be used as a traditional swipe card to gain access to a lunchroom meal plan or a company parking lot. The smart card could contain several other applications, including digital certificates.
Instead of an employee entering passwords to gain access, the smart card contained the passwords. Each smart card can be programmed to give individual employees access to facilities or networks they need, Blossom said.
The new ID management suite allows customers to simplify identity management and authentication processes, according to IBM.
Lost employee passwords can cost up to $40 per help-desk call, and password problems can take up 30% to 50% of a company help desk's time, Blossom said. "There's a big cost for this whole password management issue that we haven't been able to get our arms around, and that's lost productivity," he added.
U.S. government regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley are requiring companies to adopt new security measures, Blossom said. The White House has also required all government agencies to issue "secure and reliable forms of identification" for their employees and contractors, he noted.
On Tuesday, IBM also announced a new laptop with a fingerprint scanner built in, the new T42 model.
Information about pricing and availability for the ID management suite wasn't immediately available.
The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.
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