Using Duo at the Door: Protecting Physical Access Through New Partnerships
Duo has recently partnered with two of the leading providers of physical access security: Tyco Software House and BioConnect. The partnership tells a complementary story. Duo was born in the cloud. Since our inception, we’ve focused on providing a simple, secure authentication workflow into any business application. Tyco and BioConnect live in the concrete world of building and office access.
Duo offers a broad integration portfolio that includes hundreds of cloud and on-premises applications. Thousands of customers leverage Duo to protect a diverse set of applications, from Office 365 to the AnyConnect VPN or even custom on-premises applications. Our technical integrations and partnerships have primarily focused on protecting the workforce from compromised digital credentials and data breaches.
However, we’ve come together with Tyco Software House and BioConnect to answer the question: how can we also protect physical workplaces and physical credentials?
Physical credentials can take many forms but often come as key cards or badges that are used to enter business critical facilities. Many of us are familiar with physical credentials and access control from their supporting roles in heist movies. In most cases, a ragtag group of would-be thieves includes a pickpocket whose responsibilities involve lifting a key card from an unsuspecting VIP. While this fictionalized version of credential theft is not the most common case for losing physical credentials, at its heart it still reveals a potential hole in physical access control. When the crown jewels are at stake, these partnerships and integrations can help you verify that the holder of a physical credential is the person who belongs to the card.
Tyco Software House
Tyco Software House is committed to providing a robust security and event management solution for buildings across the globe with its C•CURE 9000 platform to protect any company’s people, buildings, and assets. This solution scales to protect buildings of any age, layout, or location, whether a company is protecting one door or hundreds.
And now, C•CURE 9000 seamlessly integrates with Duo’s multi-factor authentication (MFA) solution to provide an additional layer of security at points of access. The integration is simple to set up and provides an easy and effective end-user experience at a company’s most critical locations. C•CURE 9000 customers will not have to change any infrastructure or card readers, and employees can self-enroll in Duo. When deployed, an employee simply taps their access card as they would normally, but instead of gaining direct access they are challenged with a second form of authentication on their preferred device. For more information about the integration and the Tyco Software House’s product portfolio, check out this informational video and this integration announcement.
BioConnect
BioConnect is spearheading the unification of the digital and physical access management sectors. Their previous solutions are known for leveraging biometric credentials (face, voice, fingerprint and eyeprint) to secure access to both physical assets, like data centers, and digital assets, like corporate portals. The outcome is higher identity assurance of who is accessing what and provides in-depth reporting and analysis regarding a company’s physical and digital access points.
BioConnect has realized a gap in the physical access market where certain customers’ physical access points are not equipped with biometric readers. In these cases, a BioConnect customer may need to use a badge on a door that currently does not provide a second factor of authentication. In order to address this use case, BioConnect has integrated with Duo’s MFA, adding it to BioConnect’s authentication flow. With Duo and a retro-fit solution that is integrated into 80% of the top access control system providers, it becomes easy and cost-effective for BioConnect customers to provide step-up authentication on all doors or access points.
To learn more about how this integration ensures security in every case, check out BioConnect’s documentation or their video guide to using Duo at the door.