Networking and communications company Verizon has said that it is enhancing its cloud-based Enterprise Identity Services to provide businesses more ways to authenticate users to corporate networks through mobile devices.
The company said the updatation would cover tablets and smartphones, including those running on the iOS operating system as well as Android and BlackBerry devices.
The company added that Verizon’s identity services will now enable digital signing capabilities for contracts, wills and other legally binding documents as well as offering customers a mobile application known as ID Message Center, allowing users to monitor and track their digital signature activity.
Digital signatures are used in numerous industries, most commonly in the medical and legal fields.
The Verizon 2011 Data Breach Investigations Report had found that unauthorised access to corporate networks through stolen user names and passwords topped 45% in 2010, making credentials the second most compromised data type.
Verizon vice-president of industry solutions and security practices Peter Tippett said the release of the company’s newest version of Enterprise Identity Services would be a gamechanger for two-factor authentication.
Tippett added, "Our expectation is that by strengthening authentication methods, we can significantly reduce enterprise security risk and improve the security of sensitive information while easing the burden on corporate IT departments."
Verizon’s enhanced identity platform adheres to the OATH (Initiative for Open Authentication) standards.
The company said with the cloud-based Verizon Enterprise Identity Services users do not need to purchase additional hardware or software, and if users lose a device, they can easily add a secondary device to retrieve their dynamic code for authentication.
