Microsoft has launched beta
2 of its Certificate Lifecycle Manager (CLM), which helps manage
the lifecycle of digital certificates and smart cards.
The company said that organisations
are realising that traditional username and password solutions are
no longer sufficient to secure access control for business assets
and sensitive data.
In response, technology firms are
offering sophisticated authentication solutions such as smart cards
with digital certificates. IT administrators need a centralised
point of management for these certificates that is easy to deploy
and maintain, said Microsoft.
CLM allows organisations to deploy,
manage, and maintain a certificate-based infrastructure. Microsoft
said CLM streamlines the provisioning, deprovisioning,
configuration, and auditing of digital certificates and smart
cards, while increasing security through strong, multi-factor
authentication technology.
Using CLM, both digital certificates
and smart cards can be managed as part of the same system -
including requirements for smart card logon, signed e-mail, VPN
access and other requirements.
This functionality includes
inventory management, card enrolment, recovery, revocation,
unblocking, and other features required for successful deployment.
CLM simplifies the administrative processes required to convey
trust, and ensures distribution in a more secure and structured
manner, said Microsoft.
The software is available for
download from
www.microsoft.com/technet/clm/default.mspx