The Hindu Business Line : Make your own key

Multiple passwords can be a pain but given today's computer crime scene, companies can spare no effort to protect data security. If only one could reset the password without having to call in busy systems people...

US-based BindView Corp says it can help.

BindView says its Password Self Service is an automated password reset application.

It offers organisations an immediate increase in user service levels while decreasing help desk expenses, it says. Users are able to reset passwords directly from their workstations, without network authentication or help desk assistance.

According to a Gartner report, in a non-automated support model, password reset costs range from $51 to $147 for the labour alone.

Shantanu Ghosh, Director, BindView India and Vice-President, BindView Corporation, where the entire development of the product took place, says this product provides users with a fast and secure method to restore access to their business-critical resources.

The solution has a two-step identification process, including an administrator-designed quiz. Users can visit the Password Self Service Web page from any Internet connection and reset their own password or unlock their account. Available as a standalone product, it can also be used with BindView's bv-Admin or bv-Control products to help further ensure the integrity and compliance of IT infrastructures while lowering the costs associated with maintaining and managing those systems.

Dickinson College, located in south central Pennsylvania, has implemented the BindView PSS solution. According to it, "After reviewing and thoroughly testing three different applications from three different companies, BindView's Password Self Service solution far exceeded the expectations of our user community. Our management team also agreed that the interface, both the GUI and web front end, was extremely simple to use and didn't require a great deal of overhead on Dickinson College's Windows-based servers."

"Our help desk is now open 24/7/365 for password-related issues since our community now has the ability to reset their own Windows accounts from the Web browsers of multiple platforms," says the college.

But what about integration to the existing system? Shantanu says it was a simple integration into Dickinson College's Windows infrastructure. "Within 10 minutes, I was able to deploy a functional and secure password management solution for the campus."

According to Shantanu, for Web-based access to accounts, the product delivers self-service administration with no client side installation, reducing the total cost of ownership and increasing ease of use. Additionally, Web-based access provides administrators with a more secure, distributed environment via controlled and encrypted capabilities.

Customers are often worried that the supported platform might go out of sync during a password reset operation. Shantanu allays such fears, saying many organisations support a number of operating systems and the password self-service product could be used to update passwords in multiple directories in a single operation.

The product also supports a number of methods for user authorisation within the network, including e-mail address, account name, or a custom attribute such as employee ID number, allowing organisations to choose the most flexible and reliable system for their environment. And it also provides administrators with an audit trail for all user actions performed in the password self-service.

Picture by K. Ananathan

savitharin@gmail.com

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