Online green calculator launched

Vendor flags up environmental impact of security tokens

Security software vendor SecurEnvoy has launched an online calculator to measure the environmental impact of the distribution of two-factor authentication tokens.

According to the vendor’s calculations, each time hardware tokens are delivered to 3,000 employees, it can take 1,800 trees a year to offset the carbon from the distribution process. That same company of 3,000 users can save 65 per cent of the cost of the hardware alternatives by using mobile phones instead of physical tokens, said SecurEnvoy.

“We were surprised by the results and they don’t even begin to take into consideration the CO2 emissions from the manufacture of the tokens or their disposal,” said Steve Watts, sales director at SecurEnvoy.

SecurEnvoy’s SecurAccess software enables mobile phones to be used as ‘virtual’ tokens.