ActivCard SA the French security and software company yesterday announced the availability of its smart card authentication system, ActivCard Gold. The system combines the PKI functionality and email signing of standard smart card systems with applications such as remote access and network login, more usually associated with token systems.
With the token system, users carry a small hardware device with a keypad and LCD display which generates a dynamic password when the user types in a PIN code. The user can then use the generated password to log in to or remote access networks. Marketing director EMEA, Federic Engel, says that with the Gold system, ActivCard has made this dynamic password generation invisible to the users. The smart card stores the access credentials of the owners who only need to type in a PIN code once to gain access to all authorized applications.
However, marketing manager, Federic Engel, admits that dynamic passwords on smart card systems are available from many alternative vendors. What Engel believes is different about the ActivCard system is that it combines PKI features and email signing with network login and remote access features along with the broad interoperability which ActivCard has negotiated with a number of companies. Engel says ActivCard Gold is both DES and RAS compliant and is interoperable a number of other key industry standards such as the recently released CEPS (Common Electronic Purse Specification) standard. ActivCard also claims it has worked with many networking companies such as Lucent and 3Com to ensure interoperability with their switches and routers. However, the system is not compliant with Unix or Macintosh, and ActivCard is still discussing interoperability with major PKI vendors such as Entrust. The company says it also aims to develop interoperability with groupware applications such as Lotus Notes.
ActivCard plans to distribute the product through direct distribution channels and OEM partners. Engel says that the company does not have any OEM partners yet, but is currently in discussions and will be announcing several in the next six months. The likes of Novell, Lucent and Axent are already OEM partners on some of ActivCard’s other security products and are likely candidates for this latest product.
