Convergence: More than just product

Physical and logical security systems are traditionally managed independently. This approach creates security holes, incomplete audit trails and redundant infrastructures. Eliminating these issues can translate into significant benefits for corporations. In recognition of this, Lenel and Bioscrypt, a leading provider of enterprise access control technology, have been tightly integrating their products to provide a converged security solution that unifies physical and logical security, enabling customers to create a single unified identity platform.

In addition to traditionally supporting Bioscrypt Veri-Series readers for multi-factor identity verification for facilities, Lenel has now incorporated the Bioscrypt VeriSoft application into OnGuard for multi-factor identity verification for networks. This enables an organization to create a converged security solution, and finally bridges the gap between physical and logical identity management.

Because VeriSoft is an integral component of OnGuard, customers can not only realize increased security, they can also simplify their processes. They can employ authentication standards such as biometrics, proximity cards, smart cards, etc. in any combination to authenticate users at the door and the desktop, to unify an employee’s identity across the organization, mitigate “tailgating,” and quickly enroll and remove employees from the system.

Business Drivers for Convergence

Compliance

Companies that experience security breaches face stiff penalties from regulators — especially if they’ve failed to meet compliance requirements. There are a number of regulations governing various industries, including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) in the commercial sector, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) for banks and other financial institutions, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) in the financial sector and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the health care sector.

In order to meet compliance requirements, companies must be able to track who accesses what, and when. According to Gartner’s “Hype Cycle for Identity and Access Management Technologies, 2006,” regulatory compliance has been a major driving force behind identity and access management solutions such as Enterprise Single Sign On, which has proven its business value.

A converged physical and logical solution is the best way to track an employee’s activities both within a building and on the network. The Bioscrypt-Lenel converged physical and logical solution goes beyond using the same credential for physical and logical access. It lets companies set policies based on a single unified security solution.

Increased Security

A converged physical and logical security solution provides organizations with the ability to see a single view of an employee. This allows them to implement security measures that were previously not possible with independent solutions. These include:

• Creating roles-based access. Using a roles-based solution that combines both physical and logical access, companies can quickly give new employees or newly-promoted workers access to all the facility areas and software applications they need. This enables employees to become productive more quickly.
• Mitigating Tailgating. Tailgating is the practice of one person following another into a building without first showing his or her proper credentials. By denying logical access to computers and networks by employees who haven’t first shown their credentials at the door, companies force staff to properly authenticate themselves at building entry points.
• Detecting attempts to gain unauthorized access. Forcing employees to badge in before granting them logical access will also send off alarms if users who haven’t yet entered a building are supposedly trying to access their computers.
• Quickly disabling all access by terminated employees. Companies can deny physical and logical access simultaneously for ex-employees by disabling their main accounts. This prevents the time lags and oversights that occur when both IT and physical security staff must be informed separately of an employee’s departure.

Cost

Creating a converged solution in which physical and logical security are administered by a single policy eliminates duplication and improves efficiency. Companies can also leverage physical security credentials for logical access and vice versa, eliminating the need to enroll users twice.

The Bioscrypt VeriSoft solution supports a number of authentication factors, including biometrics, passwords, smart cards and tokens. Bioscrypt’s physical access Veri-Series line of fingerprint readers and VisionAccess 3D Face Reader also support multi-factor authentication, including biometrics, PINs, smart cards and proximity cards. With this flexibility, companies can authenticate employees at the door and at their desktops using single- or multi-factor authentication. An employee need enroll only once to use his identity verification credential for both physical and logical access.

A unified solution

Lenel has incorporated the Bioscrypt VeriSoft solution into the OnGuard platform. As a result, the integrated Bioscrypt software application will remain a component of the OnGuard solution as it evolves. This means that Bioscrypt’s technology will remain compatible with the most current Lenel solutions.

“VeriSoft is an easy-to-deploy and highly scalable solution. By tying it in to OnGuard, we’re able to achieve physical and logical security convergence, giving companies a complete view of an employee and immediately sending out alarms if someone tries to gain unauthorized access to a system,” said Erik Larsen, Product Manager of Identity Solutions for Lenel. “The unified Lenel-Bioscrypt system not only protects a company’s most valuable assets, it also helps organizations meet their regulatory compliance requirements.”

According to Forrester, maintaining siloed identities is neither sustainable nor secure. The combined Bioscrypt-Lenel solution eliminates such oversights. In “Justifying E-SSO: Benefits Beyond The Help Desk,” Forrester recommends a converged physical and logical solution to ensure strong authentication.

The OnGuard security platform by Lenel includes advanced access control, alarm monitoring, digital video, intrusion detection, asset tracking, information security integration, credential production, and employee and visitor management functionality, allowing companies to lock down their facilities. The Bioscrypt VeriSoft solution is a logical access application that eliminates the cost of password management and enables companies to meet compliance regulations. Using Bioscrypt VeriSoft, employees have to log on only once to access all of the applications they need. Organizations can authenticate employees through a variety of means, including passwords, tokens, smart cards or biometric solutions.

To identify an employee, Veri-Series uses the most convenient form of authentication available to organizations: what a person is, rather than what the person knows or has. Fingerprint matches can be made in less than one second. They can be done alone for single-factor authentication, or in combination with a smart card and/or PIN number for multi-factor authentication. Veri-Series is also integrated with OnGuard.

“Lenel is one of the most progressive security solution providers on the market,” said Robert M. Douglas, President & CEO of Bioscrypt. “They are innovative and are quickly moving their systems to IP-based solutions. They understand the value of physical and logical security convergence.”

Bioscrypt and Lenel are committed to working together in order to continue offering customers the most comprehensive security solution on the market.

For more information on this topic, please contact: government@lenel.com