Taking strong, hardware-backed MFA where mobile phones can’t go with PingID

The need for identity and access management

With security breaches becoming a growing and expensive problem, organizations are embracing identity and access management (IAM) platforms like Ping Identity with multi factor authentication (MFA). This technology enables organizations to address expanding security concerns and regulatory requirements within and beyond their employee base, while also reducing complexity for the end user by having as few as one identity to access all the different tools, systems, and programs required to do their jobs.

Our work with the IAM vendor community has proven there are many scenarios where mobile phone use is restricted or even prohibited for varying reasons. Call centers and hospitals, as well as high-security environments like government agencies and financial institutions, require strong authentication to protect sensitive data and assets.

Key use cases that call for hardware MFA

For instance, call centers are tightly controlled environments from a time/work perspective. Performance control is another important aspect—the less distractions, the higher throughput from staff. Arguably more important is privacy. Call centers do not allow mobile phones in an effort to protect customer data from misuse and abuse, which means another form factor becomes essential to enabling MFA.

Yubico and Ping Identity partnership

Yubico Partner, Ping Identity, offers an Identity as a Service (IDaaS) platform called PingID. With the YubiKey and PingID together, customers receive a comprehensive hardware-backed MFA solution for both high-security and phone-free environments. The joint enterprise-wide solution offers tailored authentication policies for administrators, and at the same time, provides simple, secure access for users.

“Ping Identity’s partnership with Yubico gives an enterprise the convenience and flexibility of mobile app-based or hardware-based MFA to deliver the right level of assurance to match risk across an ever-increasing number of access points. With MFA everywhere these days, admins are looking for a way to centrally manage all MFA use cases. Native support for YubiKey helps an organization get much closer to that goal,” said Edward Killeen, Partner Marketing Manager, Ping Identity.

The power of a PingID plus YubiKey MFA

With PingID, admins easily define advanced authentication policies and layer strong YubiKey MFA when and where needed. This affords users the flexibility to harness hardware-backed protection at any time and from anywhere. PingID’s native support for certified YubiKey hardware and YubiOTP (One Time Password) also enables enterprises to eliminate the need to manually type codes, not only saving on time, but also improving employee productivity. A strong testament to durability and reliability, the YubiKey does not require batteries or network connectivity, so it is always on and accessible.

Using PingID and the YubiKey together helps enterprises safeguard their most sensitive data, and effectively mitigates the risk of security breaches. For more information on how PingID and the YubiKey work together, download our joint solution brief here or visit yubico.com/works-with/ping-identity/.

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