Newmarket, 22nd March 2004: Unipalm, the leading security specialist, has signed a UK and Ireland distribution agreement with ActivCard®, a global provider of strong authentication and trusted digital identity solutions.

David Ellis, Director of e-Security at Unipalm, says, “This is an exciting signing for us and for our partners as the digital identity and authentication market is set to grow rapidly over the next few years. We have selected ActivCard because their technology and product roadmap is very strong, and we feel the relationship presents an opportunity for our resellers to offer enhanced solutions for their customers’ IT infrastructure and security. ActivCard products complement some of the vendors already in the Unipalm portfolio such as Check Point® and Citrix®. To help customers maximise benefits of deploying these solutions, Unipalm will be offering free of charge technical and commercial workshops over the coming weeks.”

Under terms of the agreement, Unipalm will distribute a range of ActivCard products and solutions for:
Secure Remote Access - ActivCard AAA™ Server and easy-to-use authentication devices strengthen security for remote dial-up, VPN, web, terminal services, and wireless LAN access.

Single Sign-On – ActivCard Single Sign-On (SSO) simplifies sign-on for end users, reduces helpdesk support cost for password resets, and improves security through multi-factor authentication to enterprise applications including Microsoft Windows®, mainframe, JAVA® and web applications.

Smart Card-Based IDs - With ActivCard software, a single multi-function smart card can securely store PKI certificates for digital signatures and secure email, biometric and demographic data, and one-time-passwords, as well as converge with physical security credentials and photo IDs for employee badges and government issued IDs.

The agreement brings together the Unipalm distribution channel and VAR programmes with ActivCard products that enhance fundamental business security and productivity. ActivCard solutions address unique requirements in enterprise, government, financial services and other business environments that benefit from streamlined user authentication for network access, password and digital credential management cost reduction, and session mobility. In addition, the solutions answer the essential security imperative that organisations face: the ability to know with certainty the identity of individuals connecting to networks, services and data in today’s anytime, anywhere computing environment.

“The breadth of the ActivCard solutions surpasses legacy authentication and traditional point perimeter security with true enterprise class identity management capability and modularity that allows customers to start with one solution and upgrade over time,” added Ellis. “That best-of-breed technology, coupled with the benefits of the ActivCard lifetime token replacement option and 10 GBP (15 Euro) pricing for dynamic password tokens reinforces the enhanced value of the ActivCard product line.”

Marc Hudavert, ActivCard Vice President of Sales and General Manager of ActivCard Europe S.A. states: “The ability to seamlessly confirm online users are who they say they are and to deliver real-time secure access to networks and services is critical in business today. We’re pleased that Unipalm has chosen to offer ActivCard products to the UK and Irish markets, enhancing their channel partner access to one-stop shop security expertise and enabling their VAR’s to reap the rewards of those customer opportunities requiring digital identification and authentication.”