Going virtual to extend security during lockdown

The vSEC:CMS credential management system has many options when it comes to deploying digital identities within an organisation, further it has the longest list of supported strong authentication credentials. Versasec provides an extensive menu of options. In these “Corona times”, when a large population, if not all the user population is remote and working from home, some of the deployment options might be easier to adopt than others. Attributes such as Virtual and Self-Issuance for example typically get a higher score.

vSEC:CMS enables the use of a mixed deployment, where for example privileged accounts (ie IT staff) make use of a higher security level for authentication than other associates in the company (ie accounting staff). In this deployment model, the IT staff would make use of a physical credential such as smart cards or pki tokens, while the remote accounting staff might be using virtual credentials like for example Windows Hello for Business (WHfB) or virtual smart cards. vSEC:CMS provides a unified interface for managing all of these very different types of credentials.

Deploying virtual credentials means that no dedicated hardware, for two-factor authentication (2FA), needs to be provided to the users (remote staff). This is a huge advantage in a pandemia with stay at home orders, when inventory of smart cards or tokens are sitting in a locked facility, delivery options are limited and/or users are not comfortable receiving packages to their homes. Another advantage of deploying virtual credentials is the cost saving in average of 50% less compared to using physical credentials.

By making use of the User Self-Service (USS) in vSEC:CMS, the operators or administrators can prepare the full rollout of the credentials, while the issuance of the credentials are completely performed by the user. This distribution of the deployment is both time and cost efficient way to increase the well-needed security for a remote user base!

This post was first first published on Versasec Blog’s website by . You can view it by clicking here