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Credentials in the cloud

HID Global announced it has added the HID Credential Management Service to its growing offering of cloud-based identity solutions. The service simplifies the issuance and management of trusted Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificate-based credentials. The PKI credentials can be used by a broader range of organisations for convenient and secure multifactor authentication and converged physical access to facilities, as well as digital signing and encryption of emails and documents.

The HID Credential Management Service includes everything needed to issue and manage the lifecycle of digital identity and high-assurance credentials using a cloud delivery model. It removes PKI complexity and enables a wider set of authentication use cases than nearly any alternative in the Identity and Access Management (IAM) market. Most operating systems and browsers automatically recognise these certificates, ensuring the digital identity issued by the HID Credential Management Service can be used as a foundation for achieving zero trust security. Endpoint authenticator options include smart cards and USB tokens, mobile app authenticators and converged badges for accessing facilities and IT systems.

“An exponentially growing threat surface is placing many of an organisation’s global users – employees and non-traditional users – directly in the crosshairs of a potential attack,” said Brad Jarvis, VP & MD of Identity & Access Management Solutions (IAMS) with HID Global. “Regulatory compliance is also driving greater need for high-assurance credentials, but certificate-based multi-factor authentication solutions have been difficult for smaller organisations to implement, or not flexible and comprehensive enough for larger ones with broader, more holistic needs. Our cloud service speeds and simplifies deployment with the broadest possible options for local and state governments, financial institutions and enterprises.”

Many IAM solutions have not covered on-premise applications as well as the cloud and virtual private networks (VPNs), nor have they addressed both physical and logical access. Their all-or-nothing approach to high-assurance requirements makes compliance hard to achieve. They also have difficulty supporting zero-trust security models for verifying identities of all users and devices accessing resources from inside and outside physical and logical perimeters. HID Global’s service solves these problems with the following capabilities:

• End-to-end solution for both on-premise and cloud protection. Spans all requirements for deploying and managing trusted PKI, and for using certificate-based credentials for authenticating users to Windows and Active Directory as well as cloud applications.

• Broad authenticator options. Mix-and-match choices include smart cards and USB keys featuring embedded secure elements, mobile app authenticators stored on a smartphone, FIPS 140-certified smart cards, and smart cards for converged physical and IT access.

• Flexibility. Integration with open standard protocols ensures the service will support evolving security needs and complex, hybrid heterogeneous systems across many locations, functions and architectures. Subscription licences are easily added to support up to one million users.

• Easy integration and deployment. Works directly with an organisation’s Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) and uses a hosted multi-tenant infrastructure for fast deployment and simplified user on-boarding without expensive up-front investments.

The HID Credential Management Service joins HID Global’s recently announced cloud-based HID Authentication Service for managing and using identities. In addition to its expanding suite of cloud identity platform solutions, HID Global also offers an award-winning family of on-premise IAM solutions.

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