Cloud security options are set to widen today as RSA teams with Microsoft and Citrix to support use of RSA SecurID authentication, and separately, McAfee unveils enhancements to the McAfee Cloud Security Platform.
RSA, the security division of EMC, said the Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS 2.0) security token service can now support RSA SecurID token authentication.
Through integration with Microsoft ADFS 2.0, someone authenticating using RSA SecurID two-factor authentication could extend that identity assertion into cloud-based services supporting ADFS 2.0 in a federated way. These could include those built on the Windows Azure platform as well as secure access to Microsoft’s Office 365 cloud-based Web applications, according to RSA.
Securing the cloud
“In terms of virtualisation and the cloud, this means you can take these islands of identities and bring it up into the cloud context,” said Sam Curry, chief technology officer for identity and data protection business unit of RSA. “If someone is building on this platform, they can now use SecurID.”
In related news, RSA also said support for RSA SecurID had been integrated into the Citrix Receiver virtual desktop software client.
With Citrix Receiver, organisations can support employee access to enterprise data, applications and desktops from any computing device.
It can be used with Windows, Mac and Linux desktops and laptops; thin clients; and Apple iOS, Google Android and RIM tablets and smartphones. Users are provided a virtual image of these resources via Citrix Receiver, with no data or applications residing on the mobile device itself.
Curry pointed out this “container-like approach” is optimised for mobile applications so that the one-time password authentication entry is done automatically using RSA APIs with the RSA SecurID software token. He said SecurID support in Citrix Receiver is expected to be available next month.
McAfee on a cloud
McAfee also broadened its cloud horizons today with an updated version of its Cloud Security Platform. Out since May, it’s a set of modular security services, including an email gateway and data-loss prevention, that can be used between an organization’s network and a cloud service. It can be deployed by the enterprise for specific security services to the cloud, or by the cloud service provider.
New modules include McAfee Cloud identity Manager, originally developed by Intel, which acquired McAfee. The McAfee Cloud Identity Manager is compatible with SAML and allows companies to establish a single sign-on portal for centralized access to cloud services.
Marc Olesen, senior vice president and general manager of cloud and content at McAfee, also said the McAfee Data Loss prevention module in the cloud platform has been updated for improved classification in the discovery process. It can also be deployed as a virtual appliance in a VMware-based environment.
One module, called McAfee Services Gateway, which was also originally developed by Intel, now has support for IBM MQ and Splunk for reporting.
Olesen said ATT and Verizon are among those using the McAfee Cloud Security Platform, which now has about 10,000 business customers in both the enterprise and service provider segments. The McAfee Cloud Platform is available in software or hardware or a mix of both.
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