Winchester City Council deploys Evidian Single Sign On Solution to comply with GSi Code of Connection

(07/10/2009)

Winchester City Council has deployed Enterprise SSO from Evidian to simplify access for staff to multiple applications while increasing security. The solution was supplied through specialist distributor, AppSpeed.

The Evidian solution is being used together with two-factor authentication to secure systems and application access in compliance with GSi Code of Connection (CoCo), which the council achieved in February 2009, well ahead of the compliance deadline. Enterprise SSO eliminates the risks of staff having to remember multiple passwords to access key applications.

Council staff use the Evidian solution when signing into a range of back-office and citizen data applications. Enterprise SSO enforces security policies by clearly linking application access to user identities, and by enforcing the use of strong, complex passwords.

Winchester City Council Head of IM&T, Sheila Davidge, said: “We wanted to ensure we were compliant with CoCo ahead of the Government’s original deadline. Evidian’s SSO solution exceeds the CoCo requirements for password strength, and saves users’ time by negating the need to sign in to multiple applications. It also cuts the number of helpdesk calls from users for resets of forgotten passwords. It gives us a single, consistent security policy that’s easy to apply, with minimal support overhead.”

Nick Lamidey, sales director UK and Ireland for Evidian said: “SSO delivers security where it’s most often needed, for user identification and authentication when accessing key applications. This is becoming a key requirement for security compliance, especially in the public sector. Our solutions simplify access for both office-based and remote users, and make single sign on easy to deploy and manage. This delivers rapid ROI through reduced helpdesk support for replacing or resetting user passwords."

Evidian’s Enterprise SSO solution increases enterprise security by enforcing application password policy. It automatically creates and changes application passwords, improving user productivity and regulatory compliance, and cutting helpdesk costs. Industry analysts estimate over 30% of helpdesk calls are for password resets.

Evidian’s solutions secure access to all types of corporate application – whether Windows, Citrix, Linux, Unix, web-based or mainframe. They combine multi-factor authentication with a plug-and-play SSO solution, replacing user passwords with digital signatures based on certificates, smart cards, USB keys or biometrics. Access is authorised according to existing security policies and enterprise directories. Enterprise SSO integrates with Windows Active Directory.

Evidian Enterprise SSO is available for Windows XP, 2000, 2003 and Vista workstations. For thin clients, it is also available in the Windows Terminal Server and Citrix (MetaFrame, Presentation Server and NFuse) environments.

Related topics:  Authentication and identity management   Data management and data security 

Print version | Email to a friend | Related articles

Data breaches: Trends, costs and best practices gives you all the latest information on securing personal and corporate data, key recommendations for immediate action to improve data security, and how to respond to data breaches.

Other Security news and resources