IBM and Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc. today announced a new security
solution that integrates palm vein biometric technology from Fujitsu
with IBM’s leading enterprise single sign on solution.
The
new offering aims to help companies bypass the hassles of managing
multiple passwords for access to critical business information by
enabling employees to scan their palms to verify their identities. By
integrating the palm vein technology with IBM’s single sign-on
software, employees can securely access applications, files and
websites with a single scan of their palm – eliminating the need to
remember multiple passwords and the threats posed by those lost or
stolen.
The solution combines Fujitsu PalmSecure LOGONDIRECTOR with IBM Tivoli
Access Manager for Single Sign-On, providing organizations with a
comprehensive authentication solution for protecting data while also
complying with HIPAA, Sarbanes Oxley, PCI DDS and other industry and
federal regulations.
For example, an employee simply holds their hand over a small scanning
device attached to their computer that reads the vein patterns in their
palm and instantly recognizes the user’s identity and what access that
affords them. The Fujitsu PalmSecure palm vein authentication
technology uses near-infrared light to capture a person’s palm vein
pattern, generating a unique biometric template that is matched against
users’ pre-registered palm vein patterns.
Palm vein identification is an unobtrusive and highly accurate
technology, and the International Biometrics Group (IBG), which
evaluates biometric products through comparative testing, found that
palm vein technology competes well with iris scanning technology in
accuracy, and demonstrated extremely low occurrences of both false
positive and false negative readings. It utilizes no trace technology
which leaves virtually no biometric footprint behind and therefore it
is difficult to spoof, especially when compared with cheaper
fingerprinting devices.
“A typical organization spends hundreds of dollars per employee per
year on lost passwords through help desk support,” said E.K. Koh,
program director for single sign-on, IBM Tivoli software. “IBM’s work
with Fujitsu replaces archaic password structures with a single path of
access that resides in the palms of the employees’ hands, and can be
managed more efficiently saving companies thousands of dollars in IT
support while protecting critical organizational data and information.”
IBM Tivoli Access Manager for Enterprise Single Sign-On allows a user
to log in once to gain access to various systems or applications to do
their jobs without being prompted to log in again at each of them. The
combined solution from IBM and Fujitsu now uses palm vein technology in
place of a user needing to even type a password once.
“The combination of PalmSecure LOGONDIRECTOR and IBM Tivoli Access
Manager for Enterprise Single Sign-On validates that strong biometric
authentication is a critical component in addressing IT security and
compliance requirements,” said Jim Preasmyer, director of sales and
business development, Advanced Technology Group, Fujitsu Frontech of
North America, Inc. “We are proud to partner with IBM, one of the
leading management and single sign-on providers, to expand PalmSecure
LOGONDIRECTOR adoption. This partnership underscores Fujitsu’s
commitment to partnering with world-class organizations to resolve
security issues associated with lost, stolen or forgotten passwords."
As part of this integration, Fujitsu PalmSecure LOGONDIRECTOR has
been validated through the Ready for IBM Tivoli Software program,
ensuring that the integration with Tivoli products meets IBM’s
requirements for interoperability and user experience. Validated
products bear the Ready for IBM Tivoli logo as an assurance to
customers of their compliance.
“For more than seven years, we have helped healthcare organizations,
financial services firms and companies in other industries protect
sensitive information and comply with various regulations by
implementing IBM’s security solutions,” said Jerry Sforza, president of
Encode, Inc., a Freehold, N.J.-based IBM business partner. “Integrating
the Fujitsu biometric solution with IBM’s technology gives our
customers a smart security solution that ensures the right people have
the right level of access to critical organizational data.”
