RSA SecurID Securely Locks Down Microsoft’s Cloud Services
There was a lot going last week, so here’s an item that fell to the back burner until now: Security specialist RSA (a division of EMC Corp.) is bringing its trademark SecurID two-factor authentication system to Microsoft Windows Azure platform-as-a-service cloud and Microsoft Office 365 cloud productivity suite.
The way the RSA SecurID integration works, as is the case with many Microsoft-complementary products, is via Active Directory, according to the press release. Specifically, it works with Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services 2.0, the security token system at the core of the Microsoft ecosystem, that handles identity access and management (IAM) and single sign-on across Redmond’s own products, partner solutions, and — most relevantly here — the cloud.
And now, with this announcement, RSA brings its multifactor authentication (MFA) expertise to bear on Microsoft’s cloud solutions.
“Organizations can take advantage of the Microsoft Office 365 services to support use cases for cloud-based collaboration, while at the same time protecting sensitive company information by requiring secure authentication of end users. This level of integration provides added confidence in the secure migration to cloud services,” said Sam Curry, CTO of Identity and Data Protection for RSA, in a prepared statement.
It’s not that MFA, IAM, SSO or any of the rest of that alphabet soup is new to cloud services in any way. But what was the last time you bought a cup of coffee without seeing someone with a SecurID token hanging from their keychain? RSA is on the right track with this announcement, and we’ll be watching how it addresses cloud security hurdles going forward, so keep watching TalkinCloud.
