Computer Associates Enters Web Access Management Arena

The new product, eTrust Web Access Control 1.0, secures online services by allowing users to only access information that they are authorized to see, according to CA. It protects sensitive data on employee portals, partner extranets and other Web-based systems.

ETrust Web Access Control is built on CA technologies already under the eTrust brand: eTrust Directory, Access Control and Single Sign On.

The software works with the existing CA mainframe infrastructure and is easy to deploy, said Piers McMahon, director of eTrust marketing at CA. It leverages mainframe products such as CA-Top Secret Security as its user repository through the eTrust LDAP server.

For VARs working with a CA installed base, eTrust Web Access Control is a "natural up-sell," McMahon said. Products that compete with it include solutions from Netegrity and RSA Security's ClearTrust Web access management software.

Michelle Drolet, CEO of Conqwest, a Holliston, Mass.-based security solution provider, said her firm and a couple of its customers have tested the new CA product.

"As soon as people understand the strengths and how it can actually lock down the Web servers %85 it [will have a lot of potential," Drolet said.

For example, eTrust Web Access Control can help a Conqwest customer that just launched a Web-based customer relations application that provides online ordering, Drolet said. The software would allow the company to protect proprietary data by designating not only which customers have access to services, but also what data they're authorized to access, she said.

Online access control is something that companies will budget as a must-have item, said Drolet. "[Access control is going to be key in the next 12 to 18 months, and Web access control will be right alongside it," she said.

ETrust Web Access Control is available to CA's Enterprise Solution Partners. The product's pricing starts at $22 per user, with volume discounts available.

McMahon said the new offering represents a building block for a series of security-related initiatives from CA. In September, the company unveiled the Security Command Center, an enterprise security management console.