In today’s competitive and efficiency-driven climate, organizations must provide their employees, contractors, and business partners with secure remote access. Many organizations provide access via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) over existing internet connections.

However, VPNs solve only part of the security equation for remote access. VPNs ensure the privacy of data transmission, but do not strongly defend against unauthorized access to the organization’s electronic assets. Today, simple username and passwords protect access to most VPNs.

Security experts recommend strong, two-factor authentication to protect remote access. However, strong authentication historically has been expensive, difficult to use, and complex to administer. This has left organizations with a dilemma - take on the added expense and burden of two-factor authentication or leave the organization’s remote access inadequately protected.

Arcot Systems Inc., a leader in software-based strong authentication and digital signing solutions, provides a third option for secure remote access: strong two-factor authentication for VPNs that retains the ease-of-use and deployment simplicity of username/password authentication.