SecurID sales still growing, confirms EMC

Remediation efforts for troubled 2FA brand have been well received by RSA customers, parent company claims

Sales of RSA's SecurID authentication tokens continued to rise in the second quarter of 2011 despite the recent hack on its systems, according to parent company EMC.

In a conference call following EMC's Q2 results, executives revealed that its troubled RSA Security division saw year-on-year revenue growth accelerate from eight to 13 per cent between Q1 and Q2.

Crucially, the SecurID business that sits within that grew as well, and EMC claimed the expanded remediation strategy it announced in June had met with approval from customers.

Customers who use the tokens to protect intellectual property and corporate networks were offered total replacements, while those who use SecurID to protect web-based consumer financial transactions were offered additional transaction monitoring.

EMC recorded a $66m (£40m) charge in the second quarter to allow for the remediation work.

The vendor declined to volunteer any information on how many customers had opted to replace their estates, but claimed that "overall customer feedback is positive and increasingly, customers are showing confidence."

On the call, a transcript of which can be found here, chief financial officer David Goulden said: "Looking forward, it is likely that RSA growth will remain a bit slower as remediation efforts continue, but we are confident that we are doing the right things to maintain customer loyalty and confidence in SecurID."

Goulden said there had been "significant" SecurID renewals in Q2, including from financial services and telecoms firms. It also bagged a new order worth over $900,000 from a European financial institution.

Lockheed Martin, the defence contractor that suffered a security attack in June as a result of the original March hack on RSA's systems, continues to use SecurID, Goulden added.

"These are pretty good indicators we are doing the right things in growing customer trust," he said.

Overall, EMC's consolidated Q2 revenue rose 20 per cent to $4.85bn as GAAP net profit jumped 28 per cent to $546m.