FAQ: conpal MFA

conpal MFA is a flexible authentication service for secure login to portals, corporate networks, applications and much more. It simplifies and standardizes user login with the use of a secure software token.

Use of the authentication service is oriented to the working environment available to the user at that time, which could be a desktop PC, notebook, tablet or smartphone. The user is granted secure access and it is irrelevant whether they’re working from a typical office environment, remotely fromhome, or on the move. Thanks to this service-oriented concept, our authentication service can be made available anywhere.

The service adapts to the operational environment and does not place high demands on peripherals, middleware components etc., like alternative authentication methods. Having said that, conpal MFA can by all means be combined with these.

During authentication, a secure one-time password (OTP) that is unique and cannot be manipulated is created as part of a login process. Following a validation process, it is sent to the particular target system for login and is then accepted by this system. Generation of the OTP is triggered by entering a password or PIN or by using biometrics (fingerprint, facial recognition) when unlocking a smartphone, and the OTP itself is the result of a highly-secure cryptographic process. It is computed based on user and device information and is only valid for a very short period, which prevents it from being manipulated.

Using the service is uncomplicated for the user. The self-service portal provided significantly reduces the effort that is typically required in terms of user services for authentication processes.

We’ll set up an online account for you so that you can thoroughly test conpal MFA. Within this account, you can then create users and configure the interfaces for the application where authentication needs to take place. The authentication tokens are also distributed to the test users via the online account. As the first step, we recommend testing conpal MFA for a simple application (such as for a VPN) and a user group that is small but represents different types of users (e.g. users working from home and mobile device users). The test account can be converted to an operational account later if required.

The test account can be set up instantly and is available for the registered administrator within just a few minutes. Setting up conpal MFA for an application (such as VPN) takes about 30 minutes, during which you configure the application and the interface for the connector. Following this, users can be registered and their profiles fully activated online in an automated step. Configuration is menu-based. If you have any questions, we are of course on hand to help and advise you.

Your test account is basically set up for 30 days and ten users. The test period can be extended and the number of users increased if required.

The key benefit of conpal MFA is in providing an extremely flexible authentication solution. In terms of its security, it can easily stand up to comparison with the authentication methods previously established (such as smart card and hardware tokens). However, it is far superior to those methods in terms of flexibility, initial investment required and operating costs. The solution functions independently of the operating system as regards the client used. The authentication service can be integrated for any applications using standard protocols such as Radius or SAML. In addition, APIs and SDKs provide the option of integration into the company’s own in-house applications.

conpal MFA is made available in SaaS mode and thus offers uncomplicated, fast rollout without complex installation and configuration processes on the user client. The use of different variants of software tokens that are customized for the various operational environments increases the user-friendliness while at the same time reducing the administrative burden. Using dynamic keys for generating the OTPs provides higher security than with standard OTP solutions. By using conpal MFA, you are protecting yourself and your users against hacker attacks such as phishing, MITM, MITB and HTML injection.

Thanks to its service-based deployment, conpal MFA is extremely flexible and scalable. Therefore, it is suitable for small companies as well as medium-sized and large enterprises in all market segments.

conpal MFA offers a certified and patented technology for the secure generation of user-specific and device-specific OTPs with dynamic keys, ensuring that reverse engineering is prevented on an ongoing basis. The connectors establish a highly secure, encrypted connection between the application integrated in the solution and the service provided.

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