Council gives remote workers security tokens

[Egaladeist]

Mobile workers at North Somerset Council have been given physical authentication devices as part of an initiative to secure remote working.

Some 450 council employees have been issued with SecurID tokens from RSA Security to access sensitive information from outside the office securely.

Social workers, occupational therapists and district nurses are using the tokens to gain network access from their laptops to centrally stored data, to assess care packages and benefits eligibility for children and elderly people.

The project has also laid the foundations for a larger home and flexible working programme planned for next year, which the council hopes will lead to efficiency savings, says Andy Moll, egovernment strategy manager at North Somerset Council.

‘We needed to be sure the data was safe,’ he said. ‘It speaks for itself that we could not afford to compromise the integrity of the system. Nevertheless, it was important that any security implementation was user friendly.’

Using the RSA Security technology, employees can log in to council systems from any internet connection point. Back-end RSA ACE/Server software verifies remote workers’ usernames, passwords and a unique one-time passcode, ensuring that unauthorised people cannot access sensitive information.

‘Local authorities are really beginning to recognise the potential benefits of mobile working as a way of getting the best out of their frontline staff,’ said Moll.

‘SecurID technology has enabled us to embrace mobile working without sacrificing the integrity of what is often very sensitive information on our network.’

By using passcode-generating technology the council also hopes to cut the time IT administrators spend resetting passwords.

http://www.vnunet.com/computing/news...remote-workers
Council gives remote workers security tokens - vnunet.com

[nihil]

Hi EG~ the MoD were using those years ago..................greater need for remote/offsite access

They are not very robust and tend to break where you attach them to your key ring?............should use dural or titanium IMHO

[foxyloxley]

Where I'm working they use these devices, and have hit a snag .........

the authentication # changes every 30 seconds or so, and there are quite a few of the medical staf who cannot type the # in fast enough, so it changes whilst they are trying toi enter the first go ..........

[nihil]

Hi Foxy~

Slightly off topic but it may help you?

The device contains a cheap (Chinese ) quartz crystal timekeeping mechanism...........this is battery powered, and will start to fail as the battery wears down............this is particularly prevalent in winter, when temperatures drop, and batteries lose their "ooooomph"

Also, that clock is fixed, but the "mothership" is probably being recalibrated against an atomic clock every hour?.............they gradually get out of synch?

[Egaladeist]

Hi nihil,

That weak eh? Must be made in China

Hi foxy,

30 seconds? Takes me longer than that to remember my own phone number

Eg

Edit: must've posted just seconds after you nihil...made in China, hey...I was right! LOL!

[DjM]

Originally posted here by Egaladeist


30 seconds? Takes me longer than that to remember my own phone number

Eg

I carry one and it's closer to 60 / 90 seconds, but that might be configerable on the RSA Server.

Cheers:

[nihil]

Hi DjM ours were 60 seconds, which I believe is the default? If Foxy~ is having timeout problems I think that the devices need replacing (arrrrrrrrrrrrgh £££$$$). Unfortunately they only last about a year to 18 months in our climate.

EG~ I saw one of my clock collection the other day and I thought of you.......................you stick electrodes into a couple of potatoes or bananas to provide the power............yes, I am THAT sad, but it amuses youngsters and is educational? (and the bananas always talk)

[Egaladeist]

Hi nihil,

You wouldn't get much power sticking electrodes into me...the clock might even run backwards ...it would however amuse youngsters and be educational


Eg

[rapier57]

Hmmm ... yeah education.

Hey, kids, here we have Eg, a negative ion generator. Watch as we stick these probes into him and watch him dim ...