Press Release

Pall Mall Investment Management invests wisely in two-factor authentication

23 May 2008

Signify authentication service secures remote access for global investment team

Pall Mall Investment Management is a specialised asset management company with assets of over a billion US dollars. Established in 1998, the firm’s expertise lies in the world of high yield bonds, and European stocks and government bonds.

While its main company headquarters is based in London, Pall Mall investment teams need to stay one step ahead; so round-the-clock access to information, business systems and resources is vital, wherever they are in the world.

Because of this, remote user access has always been an integral part of the company’s IT strategy. But of course security has to be paramount and user identification and authentication are critical to the integrity of any remote access solution.

“With sensitive financial data and client information involved, it was clear that we could not rely on simple passwords to provide remote access to employees working at home or on the move,” said Rupert Jennings, Chief Information Technology Officer at Pall Mall. “We looked at two-factor authentication solutions but to install and manage our own in-house system for a relatively small number of people was very expensive.”

Instead, the firm turned to Cambridge-based Signify for its 24/7 fully managed, two-factor user authentication service that made it quick, simple, affordable to deploy and run secure remote access.

Pall Mall’s executives carry a small RSA SecurID from Signify token that produces a new one-time passcode (OTP) every 60 seconds. By using this along with their user name and secret PIN, they can gain immediate access to email, document files and the company’s CRM business system running on the corporate network.

As well as making two-factor authentication affordable, the Signify managed service also takes away the hassle of ongoing management.

“The Signify service covers every step of the identity lifecycle from shipping physical devices to end users, through to ongoing management and support. This ensures our users are always able to log in securely, wherever they are,” says Jennings.

“We can also manage every aspect of the service via the Signify Identity Management Centre (IMC) web portal, which allows us to enforce our security policy, add or remove users and monitor use of the service.”

Pall Mall is also looking at using Signify’s Passcode OnDemand service that does not rely on physical tokens. Instead, one-time passcodes are sent to a mobile phone or via email on request. Thistoken-less authentication is ideal for less frequent users and can also provide essential short term remote access to minimise interruption to business caused by incidents or disasters - from extreme climate to transport disruption or terrorist threats.

“For a specialist financial services company of our size that relies on anytime, anywhere secure access, the Signify secure authentication service is simply the ideal solution,” says Jennings.