June/July 2007

You might imagine a mobile phone network operator would develop its own system for giving mobile workers secure access to its computer network, but T-Mobile has taken the outsourcing route instead, choosing SecurEnvoy to provide the system under a three-year deal.

There are two strands to its SecurAccess system. Three thousand mobile staff can now access the T-Mobile corporate system remotely, using a two-factor authentication solution that transforms mobile phones into 'virtual tokens'.

In addition, provision has been made to provide ad hoc access to 2,000 other staff who don't normally need a remote computing capability, but would benefit from it in emergency - for instance, if they were unexpectedly prevented from going to the office.

SecurAccess works by sending a passcode to workers' mobile phones. To log on, they simply enter a Microsoft User ID and password, plus the passcode that has been pre-enabled on their mobile phone. Once the code has been used it is superseded with a new one sent to the phone.

 

The user licence approach is said to be cheaper than purchasing, replacing and distributing tokens (the alternative approach). Deployment costs are also said to be lower, and there is no need for extensive training.