Concern over security breaches driving change in authentication market

Data protection company SafeNet, Inc. has announced the results of a new 2011 State of the Channel Authentication survey, in which more than 100 IT security resellers revealed that recent security breaches and deployment of new technologies are driving organisations to re-evaluate incumbent authentication vendors and re-think their authentication strategies.

“Recent highly-targeted security attacks have dramatically impacted enterprise and government organisations. The breadth and sophistication of these attacks is prompting organisations to review their authentication strategies and solutions— some for the first time in years,” said John Marler, Chief Technology Officer at SOS Security. “Now, more than ever, our customers are searching for highly flexible authentication solutions that provide security and control, and the ability to scale and adapt as an organisation’s requirements evolve.”

The end of year survey of more than 100 IT security resellers found the following customer behaviours:

• Three out of four resellers report that customers are “more” or “much more” concerned about security breaches now than they were a year ago.
• More than seven out of ten resellers are actively discussing with their customers the authentication and protection of their data in the cloud and/or virtual environments.
• Authentication for mobile devices, certificate-based authentication, software authentication, and secure browser authentication solutions top the list when it comes to customer interest in new authentication technologies.
• More than 45 per cent of responders indicate that customers have expressed interest in these evolving solutions.
• Sixty-seven per cent of resellers are exploring new authentication options and vendors when renewing contracts to meet evolving requirements.
• More than 50 per cent of resellers surveyed are either currently searching or are likely to search for new authentication vendors with which to partner

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