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The WiKID Blog

Viewing posts from January, 2009

Aren’t wireless networks and devices inherently insecure?

Yes. That is why we asymmetrically encrypt all the transmissions. Each communication between the device and server is atomic as well, increasing security.

How does WiKID enable Active Directory password resets?

A password-reset domain is configured on the server with Administrator rights to reset users' passwords. When a user forgets their password, they choose the password reset domain on the WiKID client and enter their PIN. If PIN is correct, the encryption valid and the WiKID account is active, the WiKID server resets the Active Directory password to the one-time passcode and forces the user to change their password at the next login.

What do I do when my wireless device is out of network coverage and I want to login with my WiKID credentials?

The WiKID System falls back to a challenge-response mechanism, which is part of the Radius standard. After the user enters their PIN, if the device is out of wireless network coverage, the WiKID Two-factor Client will prompt the user for a Challenge.

If the user is logging in to a VPN service, for example, the user enters their username, but leaves the passcode box empty. The VPN service responds with the Challenge, which the user enters into the WiKID client.

The challenge is encrypted with the user’s PIN and an offline-challenge secret and presented to the user Base-62 encoded (to keep the length manageable). The user enters this response for a passcode. The VPN service sends the Username, the Challenge and the Response to the WiKID server. If the WiKID Server can decrypt the Response can get the Challenge, the user is granted access.

How are users provisioned? How is initial validation handled?

A big problem with hardware-based tokens and traditional soft-tokens is the need to get the token or data file to the end user securely and to associate it with the user on the server. Typically, there is a big box of tokens in a secure location, the security administrator grabs a token, enters the serial number into the user’s account on the server, and overnights the token to the user. The next day, he overnights a new PIN number for use with that token. Obviously, this process is an expensive waste of time for a highly paid security professional. WiKID Systems’ elegant architecture allows for a fully automated initial validation when our system is combined with a trusted network or existing trusted relationship.

First, the end-user installs the client on the device (over-the-air download or via the Internet installer) and logs into a web site, over a trusted LAN or using an existing hardware token or some other trusted mechanism. The web site provides the user with a 12-digit code that represents the IP address of the authentication server. The user selects ‘New Domain” to create a new trust relationship and enters the 12-digit number.

The WiKID client generates its own public/private key pair and sends a request to the server along with it’s public key. The server responds with a configuration file and its public key, encrypted with the client’s public key. Already, we have asymmetric encryption! The user enters his chosen PIN, which is stored on the server and the server responds with a registration code. The user enters the registration code into the web site and he is finished. If the administrator allows automated initial validation, the user can start generating valid passcodes and can throw away their token (or, more likely, they can return it for recycling to a non-WiKID user). An administrator can easily add a user manually as well.

How scalable is the WiKID server?

Very. We have tested the WiKID server running on a low-end 1.4 ghz server with 256 meg of ram and IDE drive and have documented 50 transactions per second. The WiKID Server is a software appliance available as an ISO or a VMWare image that you put on your hardware platform of choice, so the scalability will depend on the hardware you choose.

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