Courion Debuts Self-Service Security Suite

Anyone who has ever worked an IT support desk knows that much of the staff's time is spent helping absent-minded users remember their account names and reset forgotten passwords. On Monday, identity-management company Courion Corp. will debut a software suite that automates the process and allows users to manage their own digital identities. The result, claims Courion, is stronger, cheaper security.

Previous Courion products allowed for self-service password reset and personal profile management, but the new Identity Management Suite adds the ability to manage digital certificate enrollment, and to quickly create, edit, and delete accounts and user IDs, all without the aid of a help desk. Tom Rose, VP of marketing for the Framingham, Mass., company, says that by automating those IT support functions, companies can eliminate a third of all support calls. "The return on investment is very compelling, to eliminate that many calls," he says.

Using the new Identity Management Suite "is like going to an ATM machine," says Rose. Each program in the suite can be accessed through a standard Web browser. The program first authenticates the user using a combination of public and private information (Social Security number, birth date, etc.), and then logs the call within the help-desk application, creating a record of the transaction and starting an audit trail. Once a user's identity is verified, the program can automatically reset passwords or update accounts across platforms and applications including Windows, Novell NetWare, and Unix. Finally, the system sends out confirming notifications to everyone involved.

"The thing I love about it is that it increases security and reduces cost," says Hurwitz Group analyst Pete Lindstrom. He says it is a boost to security because it reduces errors and frees up support staff to tackle bigger problems. "This allows you to allocate your resources toward higher value functions," he says. "There's a lot of value to it."