RSA Security Teams With Microsoft On Token-Based Authentication

The collaboration "takes RSA onto the desktop," said Tim Pickard, strategic marketing director at RSA, Bedford, Mass.

The alliance, announced in a press conference Tuesday at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, adds a layer of security for enterprise and midsize users and provides a common form of login that is the same wherever a user is, be it at the desktop, connecting via a VPN or disconnected from the network, Pickard said.

According to the company, the RSA SecurID for Microsoft Windows solution combines something users know--their password--with something they have--the token ID--to create a security solution that ensures valuable desktop systems and network resources are accessible only by authorized users while simultaneously delivering a simplified and consistent user login experience.

The product, which will be sold exclusively through RSA and its channel partners, will be available by the third quarter, according to the company.

"This is a great opportunity for our existing channel partners to go back and sell this product to existing customers, as well as sell to a new customer base [of Microsoft Windows users]," Pickard said. "The whole market is now much bigger."