Northern Ireland’s health service realises big savings in switch to CRYPTOCard for authentication

Jan. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- Health & Social Care in Northern Ireland (HSCNI) reported significant cost savings through moving to CRYPTOCard (www.CRYPTOCard.com) for protection against unauthorised network access and have reaffirmed their technology leadership status in the sector by upgrading to Blackshield ID, CRYPTOCard’s premier authentication service.

Secure data access is crucial in public health administration, but authentication systems have traditionally represented a significant investment for cash-strapped health trusts. With its affordable, high-security solutions, CRYPTOCard became the new provider of two-factor authentication (2FA) hardware tokens to HSCNI enabling its six trusts to benefit from secure authentication for remote access via the Internet and PSTN. The previous system’s one-time password generating hardware tokens required regular replacement, leading to high fixed costs. There was a clear need for a 2FA solution which offered lower medium and long-term cost of ownership. CRYPTOCard met this need with CRYPTO-Shield, which also delivered a range of added benefits. “We switched to CRYPTOCard two-factor authentication as they offered the best total cost of ownership when evaluated over a three-year period,” says Michael Harnett, ICT Security Manager, HSCNI. CRYPTOCard’s hardware tokens are highly durable and do not have an expiry date, giving them a longer life span than competitive tokens. This allows for more affordable token replacement as well as cost and resource benefits from reduced logistics and deployment requirements. The result? Real savings across the health system, from hospitals and care centres to the ambulance service.

Since the switch, HSCNI expanded the use of CRYPTO-Shield from remote and third party access to web-based applications, such as hospital waiting lists and applications that track and monitor trends in certain illnesses. These applications hold large volumes of sensitive data and therefore require 2FA protection. “We forecast substantial cost savings by switching to CRYPTOCard, arising from lower administration and hardware costs,” says Harnett. “These savings will easily cover the cost of changing to a new 2FA supplier.” CRYPTOCard worked closely with HSCNI to ensure a smooth hand-over. Users, including administrators, payroll staff, medical staff and contractors, can now access confidential information quickly and securely.

Based on this success, HSCNI is upgrading the service to BlackShield ID, CRYPTOCard’s award-winning server-based 2FA application that offers powerful added features and benefits. “The broader range of tokens, including SMS and BlackBerry tokens, will better meet our end user needs and ultimately achieve additional cost savings,” explains Harnett.  “BlackShield ID gives HSCNI the flexibility to roll out tokens in soft, USB and SMS formats to suit individual needs. For example, software tokens will be allocated to contractors, removing the need for them to return hardware tokens when the contract expires,” says Jason Hart, senior vice president for EMEA at CRYPTOCard.


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About CRYPTOCard
With the best token technology in the industry and the lowest total cost of ownership, CRYPTOCard offers unsurpassed value in solutions for positively identifying individuals before giving them access to applications, data and networks. Twenty years of technical achievements have won CRYPTOCard the trust of thousands of organizations in over seventy countries. CRYPTOCard’s solutions reduce the risks associated with remote access and web-based processes, and increase compliance, at a price all businesses can afford. As the only company to offer authentication in server-based, managed service and build-it-yourself options, CRYPTOCard provides the most flexible solutions on the market.

For further information about this press release or CRYPTOCard please visit www.CRYPTOCard.com, or call/email any of the contacts below. If you are interested in commissioning CRYPTOCard to author an original article for you or if you would like to conduct an interview with a security expert on authentication, passwords, managed security, cloud-based security or any other security related topic, please contact Paul Simpson.

Paul Simpson
Director, Tudor Rose
Paul.simpson@tudor-rose.co.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)116 222 9900

Neil Hollister
CEO, CRYPTOCard
neil.hollister@cryptocard.com
Mobile: +44 (0)7815 208016

Jason Hart
SVP EMEA, CRYPTOCard
jason.hart@cryptocard.com
Mobile: +44 (0)7779 345 161

Website: www.cryptocard.com