Telecom News --

Tata Communications launches managed two-factor authentication service

Mumbai, 21 January, 2010

Service makes strong authentication more accessible and affordable; Helps businesses protect information assets without the cost of deploying new infrastructure

Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications, today announced the launch of its managed two-factor authentication service that adds to its portfolio of Managed Security Services (MSS). The new service helps all enterprises to further secure their networks and comply with security-specific certifications and regulations.

According to the Open Security Foundation(1), 436 security and database breaches compromising more than 218 million records have been reported in 2009. Tata Communications’ managed authentication service helps address this by providing a globally consistent solution that helps organizations secure access to internal networks and infrastructure and prevents unauthorized access within and outside an organization.

"Enterprises around the globe are leveraging mobile devices and laptops on an increasing basis, raising the risk of a security breach," said John Landau, Senior Vice President of Global Managed Services for Tata Communications. "While two-factor authentication offers far more protection for enterprises than passwords, many enterprises have delayed the adoption because of the complexity of deployment, staffing requirements and infrastructure cost. Our hosted managed authentication service addresses these challenges for customers and reduces the cost of ownership for safeguarding the enterprise against unauthorized access."

The new service from Tata Communications is hosted and authenticates users before they are granted access to their organization’s applications, data, services, and network devices. Users enter a personal identification number (PIN) and a six digit one-time passcode displayed on a token. Depending on their security policies and end users’ preferences, customers can choose to use software or hardware tokens. Software tokens provide increased convenience as users no longer need to carry a separate device. Instead, they can leverage everyday mobile devices that they already own and carry such as smart phones and PDAs, or their own desktop.

Tata Communications has teamed up with the global leader in two-factor authentication, RSA--The Security Division of EMC (NYSE: EMC)--to help power the managed two-factor authentication solution. "RSA SecurID is the world’s most widely deployed and trusted strong authentication solution with more than 20 years of outstanding performance and innovation," said Tom Corn, Vice President of Product Marketing for RSA, The Security Division of EMC. "By offering RSA SecurID through a managed authentication service, Tata Communications will help its enterprise customers bring confidence to everyday transactions by providing secure internal and remote access for employees, customers and partners.

With managed authentication, firms will be able to eliminate the learning curve associated with new technologies while saving on operational costs. Managed authentication incorporates best practices regarding secure authentication design, implementation, and change management of security systems to protect critical business assets. With a wholly managed authentication solution, no upfront investment is required to install and deploy infrastructure and servers. Tata Communications also handles all the details and time-consuming tasks related to token life-cycle management. In addition, staffing, administrative and logistics overhead, user management, and personnel requirements are greatly reduced, lowering total cost of ownership (TCO).

"Our software token technology and managed authentication service offer a compelling price advantage for mass deployment through mobile devices that can enable service providers and enterprises to quickly establish and maintain large-scale, trusted infrastructures," said Landau. "With more managed and secure end points, the volume of B2B and B2C communications will increase and this will help improve operational efficiency and streamline e-business transactions."

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