Verizon enhancing Enterprise Identity Services

Verizon is enhancing its cloud-based Enterprise Identity Services to offer more ways to authenticate users to corporate networks.

The services will now support smartphones and tablets, including those running on the iOS operating system as well as Android and BlackBerry devices.

This will enable users to more easily gain access to corporate networks using a two-factor authentication. This involves a dynamic code being issued to the end user that is used along with a personal identification number (PIN) to gain access to a system.

Using readily available mobile devices for two-factor authentication strengthens the security behind each user by incorporating additional intelligence such as phone number and location to validate a user’s identity. It also eases the implementation burden for consumers and enterprises, while offering multiple ways for users to authenticate to a network in the event their ‘token’ is lost or stolen.

The identity services will also now enable digital signing capabilities for contracts, wills and other legally binding documents.

They also offer a mobile application known as ID Message Center, which allows users to monitor and track their digital signature activity.

The identity platform adheres to the OATH (Initiative for Open Authentication) standards. By using an open standards-based system, enterprises can use a range of ID token devices without changing existing back-end security systems.

Delivered via the cloud, the services are aimed at helping reduce the costs and complexity traditionally associated with identity rollouts. With this solution, users do not need to purchase additional hardware or software, and if users lose a device, they can easily add a secondary device to retrieve their dynamic code for authentication.