Opengear strengthens its robust range of security options by adding Kerberos support

Opengear has added Kerberos support across all  of its advanced console servers

Opengear, provider of next generation, secure console server and remote management solutions, announced it has strengthened its already robust range of security options by adding support for Kerberos, the network authentication protocol developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and used by leading IT and security vendors.

Kerberos was designed by MIT to address the common vulnerability of unencrypted passwords being sent over a network. Using the Kerberos protocol, a client can securely prove its identity to a server (and vice versa) across an insecure network connection using secret-key cryptography. After a client and server have used Kerberos to prove their identity, they can encrypt all of their communications to assure privacy and data integrity as they go about their business.

Opengear is adding Kerberos support across all of its advanced console servers. Opengear already supports leading security protocols, standards and authentication methods including:

• Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS): a well known networking protocol that provides centralised Authentication, Authorisation, and Accounting (AAA) management;

• RSA SecurID system: the world's most widely used two-factor user authentication solution;

• The FIPS 140-2 module: the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) technical standard and worldwide de-facto standard for implementation of cryptographic modules;

Other Security Protocols: SSH v2, SSLv3/TLSv1, IPSec, OpenVPN, and PPTP VPN protocols, as well as TACACS+, Active Directory and LDAP authentication.

"Opengear added Kerberos support because our customers turn to us to provide the most sophisticated, advanced, secure, and flexible solutions for remote management available today," said John Bedrick, CMO and VP of Product Management for Opengear. "Look no further than the critical infrastructure protection security lapses in the recent news to understand the need for robust, practical approaches to security built on standards and protocols such as Kerberos."