Re: SecureID vendors?

[Vin McLellan <vin () shore net>]

        Jan (pronounced Yan) Koum queried the Listocracy:

> Anyone knows of vendors other then Security Dynamics
> that provide similar SecureID hardware based devices?
> I'd like to shop around before I decided to go with a
> certain vendor and I couldn't find any alternatives on
> the net. And while I am here: any thoughts on those
> neat things which will save us from sales people sharing
> and writing down their passwords. Please reply to me and
> I'll summarize to the list if there is demand. Thanks,

        This is probably a time to look ahead (to PKI, smartcards, process
and resource authentication, digital signatures, etc.) if you are advising
a client or employer about strong two or three-factor user authentication.

        SDTI has always won the ease of use comparison on the tokens, but
given the relative parity of security among the tokens, the relative
strengths and capabilities of the authentication server have been the more
important part of the product mix for several years. SDTI, for whom I do a
lot of consulting, just shipped the beta of their RSA PKI-based SecureSight
technology, which is expected to ship Q1 -- and other leading vendors will
have expanded and PKI-savvy products on the market later this year.

        I don't think there has even been a more dynamic period in this
niche market.

        In a direct response to your question, the leading vendors of
"readerless" hand-held authentication (HHA) tokens active in the North
American market are:

_ Activcard, <http://www.activcard.com>, a French firm out of Paris, which
has US offices in Redwood City, CA.

_Axent Technologies, based in Rockville, Md., USA
Axent bought Assurenet Pathways (né Digital Pathways,) vendor of the
Defender token, in 1997.  Now marketed as the OmniGuard Defender. See:
http://www.axent.com

 _CRYPTOCard Corporation, based in Toronto, Canada.
See: <http://www.cryptocard.com/>,

 _LeeMah DataCom, based in Freemont, CA, USA.
See: <http://www.leemah.com>

_Secure Computing Corp., based in San Jose, CA, USA.
SCC purchased Enigma Logic, vendor of the Safeword token, in 1996.
See: <http://www.securecomputing.com/>

_Security Dynamics Technologies (SDTI), based in Bedford, Ma., USA
See: <http://www.securid.com>, <http://www.rsa.com>, and
<http://www.dynas.se>)

_Vasco Data Security, Inc., based in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, USA.
See: <http://www.vasco.com/>.

        Bud' zdorov,

                _Vin

-----
"Cryptography is like literacy in the Dark Ages. Infinitely potent, for
good and ill... yet basically an intellectual construct, an idea, which by
its nature will resist efforts to restrict it to bureaucrats and others who
deem only themselves worthy of such Privilege."
_ A Thinking Man's Creed for Crypto  _vbm.

 *     Vin McLellan + The Privacy Guild + <vin () shore net>    *
      53 Nichols St., Chelsea, MA 02150 USA <617> 884-5548