SANTA CLARA, Calif. and FREMONT, Calif. - Sun Microsystems, Inc. and ActivIdentity Corp. today announced a joint solution that combines the Sun Java System Identity Management Suite with ActivIdentity's Card Management System and Enterprise Single Sign-on. The combination allows organizations to link physical and network security access and incorporate strong two-factor authentication to network resources and applications, which helps businesses improve security, maintain regulatory compliance and reduce administrative costs, and helps government agencies and contractors comply with the U.S. government's HSPD-12 security directive.
Together, Sun and ActivIdentity let businesses use a single system to connect and automate the processes for granting and revoking access rights to both physical and network resources, while leaving the control of the actual systems to the individual departments. The system uses a single Java Card platform-enabled smart card to consolidate all corporate access credentials, and offers the ability to audit access rights across both physical and network resources for regulatory compliance.
"The powerful combination of Sun's identity management expertise and ActivIdentity's identity and assurance technology puts businesses back in control of all their assets, whether they are physical buildings or computer networks," said Sara Gates, vice president, Identity Management, Sun Microsystems. "Now, customers can strengthen network security, manage identities and simplify the processes of access and administration of physical and network security for both employees, contractors, suppliers and partners. With this solution, both the facilities and IT administrators retain control of their own systems, yet they are linked to better recognize security risks before they can be exploited."
"Our joint solution with Sun is a trusted end-to-end identity management solution that helps customers meet both voluntary and mandatory regulations, and ensures the integrity of digital transactions," said Jason Hart, CEO, ActivIdentity. "By providing each user with a consolidated identity and the means to secure it, our joint solution delivers an innovative way for businesses to assure the authenticity of employees, customers, partners or suppliers, as well as control what information they can access and what transactions they can perform."
Converged IT-Physical Security Market Projected to Grow Ten-Fold in Next Three Years
The market for converged IT and physical security is expected to grow significantly in the next three years as fraud and government regulations cause more companies to look for cost-effective ways to strengthen security and compliance systems.
For example, Forrester Research expects that corporate spending on projects that combine IT security and traditional physical security controls will grow from $1.1 billion in 2005 to more than $11.2 billion in 2008 (Trends 2005: Security Convergence Gets Real, Forrester Research, Inc., January 2005).
In addition to offering the joint Sun-ActivIdentity solution to customers, Sun is in the process of deploying it to company employees worldwide. The deployment within Sun will increase corporate security by requiring strong two-factor authentication -- a Java Card platform-enabled smart card and a unique password -- to access network resources. It will also lower administrative costs and reduce help-desk calls by consolidating multiple user access credentials such as passwords and certificates onto a Sun employee's existing Java Card platform-enabled ID badge.
Helping to Improve Security, Maintain Compliance and Reduce Administrative Costs
This new solution integrates strong two-factor authentication to network resources and applications, which can help companies combat potential security breaches such as data and identity theft, corporate espionage, and other malicious behavior. By linking a company's physical and logical security access, the Sun-ActivIdentity solution further strengthens enterprise security with capabilities such as immediately restricting both building and network access when an employee or contractor separates from a company. The solution also helps customers meet regulatory compliance requirements by extending the ability to audit user access across both physical and network resources.
Additionally, the solution helps companies reduce corporate administrative costs by automating time-consuming manual processes for granting and revoking building and IT access. The solution also consolidates multiple user access credentials such as passwords and certificates onto a single smart card -- dramatically reducing the number of help desk calls and the costs of maintaining separate systems with divergent access types.
Customers who have implemented Java Card technology will appreciate that the joint Sun-ActivIdentity solution is compatible with the Sun Java Card platform, the leading technology for multi-application smart cards with over 1.5 billion cards shipped. Java Card technology helps to provide a secure environment for applications that run on smart cards and other devices with very limited memory and processing capabilities. Multiple applications can be deployed on a single card, and new applications can be added even after it has been issued to end users. The joint Sun-ActivIdentity solution runs on a diverse range of operating systems, including the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), Windows, Linux and HP-UX.
Availability and Cost
The joint Sun-ActivIdentity solution is available immediately to customers through Sun sales offices. Sun also offers implementation, licensing and support packages. Pricing is based on the number of users. For more information about the joint Sun-ActivIdentity solution, please visit http://www.sun.com/identity or http://www.actividentity.com/.
