Novell Reinforces Enterprise and Web Security Solutions, Helping Organizations Protect Corporate Resources and Lower Costs

Novell, Inc., the leading provider of Net business solutions, today announced enhancements to the company's user account management and Web security solutions, giving companies new confidence to do business securely on the Net. The new solutions strengthen Novell® Secure Access™, an integrated suite that helps businesses create one Net by giving employees, customers and partners secure, single sign-on access to the network resources they need ¾ whether they access the network from inside the firewall or through the Web, a VPN or a wireless device. This simplified, identity-based access control strengthens enterprise security, reduces administration costs and improves the end-user experience. The enhanced components announced today ¾ Novell Account Management 3 and Novell iChain® 2.1 ¾ will allow the suite to manage user accounts on more platforms than any competitive offering, and make it easier to deploy and configure.

Despite today's heightened emphasis on security, information security breaches continue unabated. A recent survey of large corporations and government agencies by the Computer Security Institute and the FBI found that 90 percent of respondents had detected computer security breaches within the last twelve months. Traditional security solutions draw upon a variety of products, which often have their own identity stores and security policies. Maintaining these multiple security solutions introduces significant network vulnerabilities, increases administration and support costs, and reduces the quality of the end-user experience by requiring multiple passwords. Novell Secure Access eliminates these barriers by delivering a solution that unifies diverse functions such as Web security, user account management, single sign-on and advanced authentication for more sensitive data.

"Using Novell Secure Access, IT Systems and Consulting has been able to help many clients solve one of toughest security challenges ¾ defining and enforcing access to network resources, inside and outside the firewall," said Laurie Teal, president of IT Systems and Consulting, a systems integrator and Novell Platinum PartnerSM based in Long Island, N.Y. "Novell's unique, identity-based approach allows companies to apply a consistent access control policy across different applications, databases, platforms and Web sites. The result is a solution that tightens security and lowers administration costs by defining security in terms of a user's identity rather than the individual systems that user needs to access."

Novell Account Management 3
As part of Novell Secure Access, Novell Account Management handles user account creation, deletion and modification, as well as password synchronization and redirection among enterprise platforms, including NetWare, Windows NT/2000, HP-UX*, Solaris* Sparc*, Solaris Intel*, AIX*, Linux*, FreeBSD* and OS/390* (RACF* and ACF2*). Features and capabilities new to Novell Account Management 3 include:

• Password synchronization ¾ Novell Account Management can now synchronize user and administrator passwords across all the platforms it supports. Rather than remembering a password for each system they need to access, users can gain access to all the platforms they need using a single password. This simplified access significantly improves the experience of users, reduces calls to the helpdesk and enhances security by reducing the number of passwords users must remember and allowing the use of more intelligent passwords. Password synchronization is a server-side function that supports any client connecting to the server, including Windows*, Linux and UNIX* clients and mainframe terminals or terminal emulators.
• Simplified account administration ¾ Any change made to a user's account in Novell eDirectory™ is now replicated to all the platforms Novell Account Management touches. In addition to user account creation and deletion, any modification to group membership, identity attributes, access rights, etc. are reflected across all platforms. This unified management eliminates the redundant administration effort associated with today's cross-platform networks ¾ saving time and money and ensuring the consistent application of security policies.

 

Novell iChain 2.1
Novell iChain, another key component of Novell Secure Access, allows companies to secure their Web sites and provide users single sign-on to virtually all Web-based applications and content. Features and capabilities new to iChain 2.1 include:

• Simplified administration ¾ iChain can now protect multiple Web servers using a single public IP address and port number. This enhancement not only simplifies administration, it lowers the cost of the overall solution and keeps corporate firewalls as tight as possible. In addition, iChain access control rules are now more granular, allowing administrators to define access rights not only by users' group memberships but also by individual identity attributes. For example, an administrator could dynamically grant access to a Web resource to all users with a certain job classification or office location.
• Enhanced authentication ¾ Support of PKI in iChain has been expanded to accept X.509 digital certificates from a much broader range of vendors and sources. Strong authentication methods, such as digital certificates, smart cards and tokens, allow companies to protect data that is too sensitive to be guarded by a simple password alone.
• Improved user experience ¾ With a single log in, users can now be granted access to multiple domain names. For example, when a user moves from www.abccompany.com to www.abccompany.co.uk, no additional authentication is required for the new domain.

 

"Security solutions from Novell are helping organizations in healthcare, government, finance and many other industries secure and protect enterprise resources inside and outside the firewall," said Ian Dunlop, vice president and general manager of Novell's Provisioning Services and Solutions Group. "Customers like Lufthansa, Beneficial Life and IDACORP Energy have turned to Novell for compelling solutions that don't just create another security silo, but instead unify security functions around a common identity-based infrastructure. By securing our customers' enterprise resources and enabling access to critical applications across the Net, these solutions provide a rapid and identifiable return on investment."

Availability and Pricing

Novell Account Management 3 and Novell iChain 2.1 will be available as part of the Novell Secure Access suite in June. The suite also includes Novell eDirectory, Novell SecureLogin, Novell Modular Authentication Service and Novell BorderManager®. Its price is US$159 per user. Customers paying maintenance or upgrade protection for Novell Secure Access will be entitled to upgrade to Novell

Account Management 3 and Novell iChain 2.1 free of charge. The suite is available through Novell channel partners, Novell Consultant and System Integrator partners or directly from Novell by calling (888) 321-4272. For more information, go to www.novell.com/products/secureaccess.

Novell iChain 2.1 and Novell Account Management 3 are also sold separately for US$10 per user and US$54 per user, respectively. In addition, Novell Account Management 3 can be purchased by platform set (Windows, UNIX/Linux, midrange or mainframe) for US$18 per user, per set. Novell Account Management 3 will be available May 31, and iChain 2.1 is available today. For more information, go to www.novell.com/products.