Passlogix brings centralized management to strong authentication deployments

Single sign-on vendor Passlogix Monday introduced software for centralizing the management of strong authentication credentials.

The v-Go Credential Manager (v-GO CM) is aimed at unifying the administration of all types of strong authentication credentials and the associated readers, including smart cards, biometrics, proximity cards and tokens, regardless of vendor.

Passlogix also is offering services to help users get their strong authentication infrastructure implemented including strong authentication devices, readers and associated back-end technical work.

“This is meant to unify the administration of a variety of credential types, and especially with smart cards not just the cards themselves but the applets and bits of information that get loaded on a card,” says Jonathan Penn, an analyst with Forrester Research.

“There is a lot of value in doing that not just from an overhead reduction standpoint, but being able to more quickly enforce or change policy.” Penn said Passlogix has been pushing the envelope in developing enterprise SSO software to be about more than just SSO.

Today, vendors such as RSA offer administrative features for their own strong authentication infrastructures but it is not cross platform.

The v-Go CM software uses any LDAP-based directory as a repository for storing all strong authentication settings and provides the administrative console for administering users and the system.

V-Go CM lets administrators set up strong authentication credentials for users using a centrally controlled or delegated administration model. In addition, a self-service mechanism lets users enroll themselves into the strong authentication environment.

From v-Go CM, administrators can reset or unblock an authenticating device, such as when a user enters the wrong PIN number too many times. Administrators also can maintain and update any applets that are loaded on to the credential such as smart cards.

The console also features integrated revocation features that lets administrators change attributes in a directory, such as user terminated, and have that flow across the strong authentication system to shut down access to computing resources as well as physical systems such as gates, entryways and garage doors.

“Providing the tools so it is easy to handle all those scenarios in one central fashion is the goal,” Passlogix CEO Marc Boroditsky says. “And we do it so you are not locked into any one vendor. That is key to our offering. We support any type of smart card and reader, any middleware, directory or PKI infrastructure.” The software also integrates with Microsoft’s new Certificate Lifecycle Management technology.

The v-Go CM software also works with Passlogix’s v-GO SSO software so users can extend their SSO infrastructure to include strong authentication.

Passlogix plans to ship the software next month. Pricing has not been set.