Cloud service simplifies certificate management, credentialing
Connecting state and local government leaders
Entrust IdentityGuard cloud-based console simplifies management of SSL, PKI, certificate discovery, device certificates and credentialing.
Managing the purchase, deployment, renewal and expiration of digital certificates for multiple Web servers, purposes and users — occasionally in many different locations — can be time-consuming and costly. Simplifying these tasks is an essential and challenging job for any government IT manager.
To help streamline these efforts and reduce costs, Entrust recently introduced its IdentityGuard Cloud Services, tools that consolidate the management of digital identities, SSL certificates and credentials via a single platform.
“With the substantial increase in connected devices and distributed computing, strong identity solutions are more important than ever as a critical security layer,” Entrust president David Wagner said in the announcement. “By consolidating identity management in the cloud, the Entrust solution helps reduce expenses, deployment challenges and management headaches that stem from legacy security solutions and techniques.”
The new service introduces a more integrated product offering, according to the company, which says customers will receive the same trusted security solution under a more consolidated brand.
The service offers five distinct components: SSL, discovery, PKI , device certificates and smart credentials:
For organizations managing five or more certificates, Entrust IdentityGuard Cloud Services SSL lets organizations set certificate expiration dates to suit project schedules and corporate policies.
Entrust IdentityGuard Cloud Services Discovery finds, inventories and manages digital certificates across diverse systems to prevent outages, data breaches and non-compliance.
The suite’s cloud-based PKI service auto-enrolls certificates to networks of trusted users, remote employees, partners, suppliers and devices, which allows end-users to sign documents and trust each other’s digital signatures. Organizations can deploy device certificates for secure access to internal networks, cloud applications, Wi-Fi or VPN connections — regardless of the type of device.
Entrust’s new cloud-based credential solution also lets organizations manage a single unified identity credential for each person associated with an enterprise or government agency . Entrust’s cloud-based management console is set up to provision identities to mobile devices, handle day-to-day management, print credentials and even mail smartcards or USB tokens to end-users.
Safeguards for Entrust IdentityGuard Cloud Services include 256-bit SSL certificates and cryptographic components that encrypt all communication between administrators and the service. The infrastructure that powers the PKI component is housed in secure facilities and features a fully redundant framework with monitoring, data backup and disaster recovery. Some offerings of certificate-related services are trusted by and cross-certified with the U.S. Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA).
NEXT STORY: Government's credential exchange to go live soon