SecurAccess tokenless two factor authentication enables secure remote working for Aspen Insurance employees
(14/04/2008)

Insurance and reinsurance company Aspen Insurance holdings has selected SecurEnvoy’s tokenless two factor authentication solution, SecurAccess, to enable secure remote working for its employees in London, the US and Bermuda.

SecurAccess uses sms messages as an additional authentication factor, eliminating the need for smart cards or tokens. When users wish to log on to the corporate network, they simply enter their Microsoft User ID and password, and then the six digit passcode that has been sent to their mobile phone. Once the passcode has been used, it is superseded with a new one. This pre-loading function eliminates the need to install any software on to the mobile device and provides users with access to their passcode as soon as they needed it rather than having to wait for an SMS message to be delivered.

Aspen wanted SecurAccess to provide an additional level of security to its new Citrix network which relies on username and password for active directory authentication. Previously, it had been using RSA tokens for all employees wishing to access the network remotely, however, employees were constantly losing the tokens and it had become difficult for the IT department to justify the cost of ongoing replacements and associated maintenance.

Aspen currently uses SecurAccess on a daily basis and anticipates its use becoming increasingly widespread as remote working becomes ever more popular throughout the organisation.

Tim Coghlan, technical analyst for Aspen has been really pleased with the roll-out: “What I love about SecurAccess is how easy it is to administer, our global service desk manages the password administration which can also be accessed by the technical teams in each country and as all employees have a mobile phone there is no need for any additional hardware.”

“Using SMS messaging rather than smartcards or tokens offers significant cost benefits over traditional methods of two factor authentication as well as additional flexibility, efficiency and security,” says Steve Watts, sales director for SecurEnvoy. “We have seen huge demand from customers as SecurEnvoy is the only company to offer a pre-loading function so users don’t have to wait to receive their sms message if they are in an area with poor mobile reception when they need to log-on to the network.”