* RSA SecurID Software Token
I continue to believe that the ubiquitous mobile phone will become the authentication token of choice in the near future. Heck, I’m not even sure why we still say “phone”; it’s a tiny, portable entertainment/camera/communications device which offers music, texting, instant messaging, photo and video display and generation, Web browsing, games, GPS services and, oh yeah, telephony. At the recent Digital ID World show, New Zealand-based Fronde showed me its one-time password (OTP) generator for mobile devices, and it was neat. But now the granddaddy of OTP is in the game.
RSA last week announced the availability of the RSA SecurID Software Token (Version 2.2) for Symbian Operating System and UIQ. Symbian develops and licenses Symbian OS, the market leading operating system for smart phones, which is licensed by leading mobile phone manufacturers; to date, more than 145 million Symbian smart phones have shipped worldwide to more than 250 major network operators. Businesspeople who use smart phones based on UIQ and Symbian OS can now leverage their devices to access protected corporate information securely, eliminating the need to carry a separate, stand-alone authenticator.
UIQ, in case you weren’t aware, is the consortium of Sony-Ericsson-Motorola developing and promoting a flexible and customizable user interface and development platform integrated with the Symbian OS. The UIQ software platform enables the creation of an entire portfolio of highly diversified phones for different user segments, all based on a single codeline.
This release, coupled with earlier releases (RSA also offers mobile software authenticators for RIM BlackBerry, Windows Mobile 5 and 6, Java Micro Edition and Palm devices), means that RSA’s SecurID is available from almost every mobile phone manufacturer and almost every network operator world wide. For those wishing to leverage mobile-based tokens in multi-factor authentication, there’s no longer a need for everyone in the organization to use the same device. Indeed, there’s no need for everyone to carry a cell phone. A judicious combination of mobile phones, PDAs, communicators and keychain fob tokens can all be used to access corporate assets protected by RSA Authentication Manager.
This is the future, and those who get there first will be those who come out on top.
Editor’s note: Starting Monday, Nov, 12, this newsletter will be renamed “Security: Identity Management Alert.” Subscribers to the HTML version of this newsletter will notice some enhancements that will provide you with access to more resources relevant to identity management. You will still receive Dave Kearns’ analysis of this market, which you will be able to read in its entirety online at NetworkWorld.com, along with links to relevant news headlines of the day. We hope you enjoy the enhancements and we thank you for reading Network World newsletters.
