Phishing-Resistant Credential Management

Date: 2024-06-12
Author: Versasec

Some people may choose to respond to the messages by exchanging banter, others choose to directly click “report and block” but where do these reports go? Is anybody checking them and taking action?

Perhaps the smartest thing to do is to become proactive. And how do we do that? By cultivating a phishing-resistant culture. Let’s explore what this looks like.

Our number one tip is to become aware of phishing-resistant technology and learn how it works. One way is adding USB security keys, smart cards, or other types of phishing-resistant hardware authenticators as multi-factor authentication (MFA), a very smart decision.

However, like any technology, you must learn to use it so it works in your favor. You can also implement phishing-resistant credential management. Versasec is the world leader in enabling phishing-resistant authentication!

Implementing phishing-resistant credential management

From a high-level perspective, we focus on the security of enterprises issuing (the setup) and recovering (when PINs or the authenticators are lost) such valuable devices. The infrastructure and processes surrounding any MFA must be protected.

Manual management of hardware authenticators requires expertise and technical skills. It can be highly unscalable, leave room for vulnerabilities, and therefore, not considered a best practice. On the other hand, to automate, you must securely manage each lifecycle stage, and there are many operations and workflows that need to be in place for everything to work together. Often there are also compliance and security requirements that need to be fulfilled. 

Example 

For instance, the integrations and features that need to be in place to manage a hardware authenticator for a user to be used for certificate-based authentication (CBA) with Microsoft Entra ID:

• Integration with Microsoft Entra ID or on-prem AD for looking up user data
• Integration with AD CS or any other PKI used in the organization
• Integration with HSM for key protection
• User PIN policy
• Temporary credential workflows
• PIN unblock procedures
• Revocation procedures
• Self-service tasks
• User identification for self-service tasks
• Certificate expiration notifications and renewal procedures
• Auditable trails of all actions taken with a user device

vSEC:CMS and vSEC:CLOUD

With Versasec’s credential management systems, vSEC:CMS and vSEC:CLOUD, organizations and businesses welcome strategy and peace of mind as a solution to manual management of extensive integrations and processes. They set up phishing-resistant credential management. By automating and orchestrating processes around hardware authenticators, their systems begin to protect their users from day 1.

Versasec offers a variety of integrations so businesses can choose what fits best with their systems and never be locked into one product. We understand that every business is unique and priorities differ.

We work alongside our technology partners, ranging from market leaders to niche experts, to bring powerful integrations and keep our customers at the forefront of identity management.