Source: RSA
RSA Security (Nasdaq: RSAS) and Gotham Technology Group today announced that MetLife, a leading provider of insurance and other financial services to millions of individual and institutional customers throughout the United States, has signed a 4-year agreement to extend RSA SecurID strong authentication technology to all domestic and international employees over the next two years.
"MetLife is committed to the security of its systems and the privacy of its clients. We've been using RSA Security solutions to address point security challenges for years. When RSA Security and Gotham presented an option to make our existing password-based authentication systems more secure by integrating two-factor authentication, we felt it was well worth the investment," said Carl Morales, Chief Technology Officer at MetLife.
"MetLife leads the field in identity protection and in taking steps to protect client privacy. We are the first national insurer to provide an identity theft resolution service with auto insurance policies at no additional charge. Security is a business enabler here - a response to significant client concerns," said Tom Meenan, VP of IT Risk Management for MetLife.
"Passwords are the weakest link in information security. Clients are aggravated by strong password policies that force constant change and difficult passwords, but not having those policies is not an option. Two-factor authentication technology is a great solution," said Ken Phelan, CTO, Gotham Technology Group.
RSA SecurID strong authentication technology increases security by combining something the user knows (their username and PIN) with something they have (a randomly-generated RSA SecurID two-factor authentication token passcode). By requiring users to provide both the PIN and passcode, the RSA SecurID system helps to ensure data are only available to authorized users.
"As businesses and consumers become more attuned to the broad range of IT security threats that exist, it has become clear that the standard user name/password combination is not sufficient for determining the identity of someone attempting to access private information," said John Worrall, senior vice president of marketing at RSA Security. "By providing employees with stronger authentication technology, MetLife is ensuring that both proprietary business data, as well as private customer data, are only available to authorized users."