RSA Boosts Two-Factor Authentication ManagementRSA Boosts Two-Factor Authentication Management

RSA Security Inc. plans to unveil Monday a significant upgrade to its ACE/Server 4.1 software. RSA ACE/Server provides two-factor user-authentication management for the company's SecurID software tokens, smart cards, and other authentication methods that secure company networks and applications. Two-factor authentication provides a higher level of trust than passwords alone because it requires something a user knows, such as a password, as well as something that person has, such as a smart card or a token.

The improvements that ACE/Server 5.0 offers over version 4.1 include centralized user management through Lightweight Directory Access Protocol directories and synchronization of data with the RSA ACE/Server data. For the first time, ACE/Server supports Microsoft Active Directory, iPlanet LDAP Directory, and Novell's NDS eDirectory.

A new Web-based administration tool, Quick Admn, lets browser users manage user and token information. Whereas 4.1 supported a few hundred thousand users, a single 5.0 server supports 1 million users, and 20 servers can be networked together to support millions of users.

Overall, analysts say the improvements in 5.0 should help ease the growing burden companies face in managing their SecurID tokens. Still, more could be done to ease LDAP management, some say. Phil Schacter, director of network strategy service at the Burton Group, says he wishes RSA had more closely integrated LDAP rather than have companies create two databases. "In certain cases, such as in financial services, you don't necessarily want to have to wait until the ACE/Server synchronizes with the directory database," Schacter says.

Amy Speare, senior product manager for RSA ACE/Server and ACE agents, says that higher levels of LDAP functions will come in future versions of the server, but added that few companies are at a mature enough stage with directories to require such integration. Also, companies can achieve higher levels of integration through an application program interface. "It requires more work, but it can be done," Speare says.

RSA ACE/Server is based on user-tiered pricing. For example, pricing would be $26,000 for 500 users and $189,000 for 10,000 users.