Tokenless twosome target RSA turf with distie signings

Swivel Secure and GrIDsure both have wounded rival in their cross hairs as they sign Cohort and Vigil respectively

A brace of tokenless authentication vendors have made UK distribution appointments as they take aim at wounded rival RSA.

Swivel Secure has beefed up its distribution line-up by adding Cohort Technology, while GrIDsure has appointed Vigil Software as its first UK distributor.

Both claim the pendulum is swinging away from the authentication market leader and towards tokenless alternatives in the wake of the RSA hack and subsequent attack on RSA customer Lockheed Martin.

Richard Harris, managing director of Swivel Secure (pictured right), claimed there has been a "multimillion-dollar" swing from RSA to Swivel and that even the large banks are evaluating their authentication strategies.

He told CRN: "The RSA hack has shaken confidence. The fact it is having to offer replacement tokens is a clear indication of how serious the breach was. We are not open to the same set of vulnerabilities as we have the core of the security infrastructure on site and then federate the identity."

Swivel has traditionally worked with distributor Sphinx, which was acquired by Arrow ECS last year, but has signed Cohort to give it fresh impetus in the UK channel. Its risk-based PINsafe offering is already sold by several hundred VARs including Eurodata, Axial Systems and Sapphire.

"We were looking to find a distributor that could offer us real value-added distribution in the same way Sphinx could," explained Harris.

Grahame Smee, managing director of Cohort, said: "Swivel is a great alternative for people looking for something different and can provide authentication in several different ways."

Meanwhile, GrIDsure has given new distributor Vigil the task of expanding its VAR base from 15 to about 40. Current allies include ANS, Salford Software, Signia, NTS and Kelway.

GrIDsure chief executive Daniel Mothersdale (pictured left) said: "Tokenless may be just 0.5 per cent of the market but I can guarantee in a year's time that will have dramatically changed as people look at alternative methods."

Vigil managing director Alex Teh said that GrIDsure's pattern-based technology offers the lowest TCO for public sector clients looking to comply with regulations such as GCSx and PCI DSS.

"We have been looking for an authentication vendor for two and a half years and GrIDsure complements our existing portfolio very well," he said.

RSA was unavailable for comment but a representative pointed out that the vendor offers multiple tokenless SMS-based authentication solutions including RSA Adaptive Authentication and Authentication Manager Express.