Giesecke & Devrient has joined with Aveso Inc. to produce one-time password tokens and authentication cards.

Aveso, a Minneapolis-based flexible display vendor, will provide its rugged display technology to G&D to produce one-time password generators in a credit card form factor. These devices are being used by to authenticate individuals for access to online information.

SCM Microsystems Inc. announced CHIPDRIVE MyKey, a new USB device designed to make it safer and easier for people to access the Internet and information networks.

The technology is based on smart card technology. The CHIPDRIVE MyKey stores passwords, credit card numbers and other sensitive information. It works with an application that fills in username/password logins and online forms. Users insert it into a USB slot on a PC or notebook and enter a PIN to answer login password requests, access personal data and easily fill in online forms to streamline shopping and other interactions with Web-based services.

Leostream Corp. has partnered with IdentiPHI Inc. and Wyse Technology to offer smart card support for users of Wyse’s thin clients. Leostream Connection Broker software enables organizations to manage user access to computing resources such as virtual hosted desktops, physical machines and terminal services.

The smart card solution enables users to access their hosted desktop by inserting a smart card in a reader attached to a Wyse thin client. The data is read from the card and sent to the Leostream Connection Broker, which determines which Windows Desktop to assign. Once the desktop is assigned, the end user enters a PIN. If a user removes the smart card from a terminal and inserts it into another the desktop sessions appears in the same state as it had previously been left.

The solution is built around digital certificates that provide two-factor access control to the Windows Desktop. Early adopters of this technology include the healthcare, finance and defense industries.

Apple has released a security guide to OS X Leopard to enable system administrators to secure computers, according to ZDNet The guide also explains how the operating system support tokens for two-factor authentication including the Department of Defense Common Access Card and the U.S. Federal Government Personal Identity Verification or FIPS-201

The guide can be downloaded here.

Security provider Gemalto’s on-demand Device Administration Service, is getting a boost from two companies that that aim to make it easier for small and mid-size companies to secure their networks.

Alternative Technology and Envoy Data announced at the RSA Conference in San Francisco that they’ll be incorporating Gemalto’s Device Administration Service (DAS) into their offerings. Alternative Technology is a distributor of products and services targeted at the thin-client/server-based computing and wireless markets. Envoy Data is a smart card and PCMCIA technical distributor to the government, military, financial, medical and aerospace sectors.

HID Global announced an initiative aimed to make it easier for companies to use one badge for physical and logical access. The Irvine, Calif.-based identity vendors has partnered with enterprise identity management companies Avaleris, Imprivata and Passlogix to offer more products to customers.

The HID Global IT Channel Program is focused on its Crescendo smart cards. The cards support both physical and logical access and provide support for a number of enterprise applications.

These new IT-oriented vendors offer enterprise applications such as single sign-on, user provisioning, smart card based strong authentication, secure remote access, pre-boot authentication, data encryption and other IT security-related applications.

Atmel Corp., San Jose, Calif., announced the availability of its FingerChip Security Chipset a smaller and less expensive biometric solution. The new chipset is being shown at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.

This new chipset combines Atmel’s highly AT77C104 FingerChip fingerprint sensor and the AT91SAM7FP105 FingerChip Security Processor, a low power, 32-bit based co-processor, a biometric solution for PC and embedded applications. Small size is achieved with the use of an embedded biometric matching engine, with a small memory footprints and low processing requirements. The new chipset provides all biometric processing on-chip. Any transfer of data is encrypted and subjected to challenge/response algorithms to ensure protection from different methods of attack.

The Atmel FingerChip sensor also utilizes a thermal-based technology, highly sensitive to the variation in fingerprint topographies. The technology also offers mechanical robustness and strong fake finger rejection.

Fingerprint vendor UPEK Inc. and online age and identity provider IDology Inc. have partnered to offer authentication services to online businesses. The joint solution is being demonstrated at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.

The partnership combines IDology’s ExpectID service with UPEK’s Authentication Service. Consumers open an account and answer multiple choice questions regarding information about their past. The questions are derived from IDology searching public data sources for information about the individual. The consumer would also register a fingerprint that would be used to access the sites in the future. It was unclear how consumers would obtain the fingerprint scanner.

“Both business and consumers are increasingly facing online threats and are looking for ways to better protect themselves,” said Jon Dancu, president and CEO of IDology, Atlanta.

WinMagic, an Ontario-based security software company has announced an agreement with fingerprint vendor UPEK to offer new security products that enable users to better protect their data. The companies’ integrated solution is being demonstrated at the RSA Conference 2008.

Enterprise businesses and government organizations face significant risks and penalties when laptops or portable storage media, containing valuable data assets or personal identifiable information (PII), go missing. WinMagic’s SecureDoc’s end point data protection suite safeguards proprietary information and personal information stored on mobile computers and portable media. The agreements adds support for Emeryville, Calif.-based UPEK’s fingerprint authentication.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Fujitsu Computer Products of America Inc. announced its PalmSecure PC Log-In Kit for general availability in North America. The company will demonstrate the biometric authentication solution at the 2008 RSA Conference.

The PC Log-In Kit is composed of PalmSecure authentication sensor embedded in a PC mouse and OmniPass Windows Log-in and Single Sign-On software for entry into Windows sessions and password-protected applications. PalmSecure generates a biometric template that is matched against pre-registered users’ palm vein patterns.

The PalmSecure PC Log-In Kit contains the latest generation authentication algorithm that provides quicker authentication with a user guidance software, and greater tolerance for the distance and angle of the hand when it is placed over the device. The PalmSecure PC Log-In Kit will be available through Fujitsu’s channel partners in June 2008.