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SecurEnvoy and Sophos Partner to Deliver Tokenless Two Factor Authentication for Disk Encryption

October 2012 by Emmanuelle Lamandé

SecurEnvoy is Sophos’ first technical partner to offer a tokenless two-factor authentication solution for laptops and other devices encrypted using Sophos SafeGuard Enterprise.

The new solution delivers business-grade encryption without the requirement for a token or other physical device which users previously needed to authenticate themselves. This removes the hassle and expense of deploying hardware tokens and smartcards. For users who rely on passwords rather than tokens, SecurAccess also eliminates the pain and expense of help desk calls to reset passwords.

Prior to this product, for the user to boot the system and un-encrypt the data securely (beyond just using a password) would require a second pluggable device to be connected – either a USB token or smartcard reader, to allow the user to authenticate themselves. However, the increased requirement for truly flexible working practices – anytime, anywhere, any device, means this isn’t always practical. In addition, tokens and smartcards etc, inevitably get lost much more regularly that users typically lose their phone.

As well as decrypting hard disks, SecurAccess can also be used as an authentication method for any device connecting to the office, so one tool solves both problems. Whether it’s powering up their encrypted laptop or connecting to the office, to updating email on an iPad, users are asked for the same password. The combination of an easily-memorable PIN (something the user knows) with an SMS received via their mobile phone (something the user has) therefore allows the user to authenticate themselves. This fuses the simplicity and ease of ‘anytime, anywhere, any device’ access the workforce is looking for with the strong security the organisation requires.

Enterprise security policies, for compliance and security often require users to change their passwords every 30 days. The Sophos Safeguard Enterprise solution enforces such policies, but this can introduce significant usability pains - particularly for travelling users whom forget their passwords, which then need to be reset. To do this, users contact the help desk and verbally repeat a complicated 30 character string code using the NATO phonetic alphabet. The operator then responds with another complicated 60 character code, again using the phonetic alphabet, which the user enters. Whilst good for compliance and security it can be frustrating and can be one of the bigger costs in deploying full disk encryption solutions.

Now, using the PIN plus an SMS code delivered by SecurAccess, the password will never again require resetting as the PIN remains static and easy to remember and the user has a ‘reminder’ for the second active part of the password. In addition the PIN is easy to recover online and a replacement text messages can be re-sent at any time.


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