May 22, 2012 - 21:34 AMT
Intel, McAfee launch Cloud SSO, expect busy year

The coming year is going to be a busy one for the security folks at Intel and McAfee, as the results of Chipzilla's $7.68bn splurge into the security industry are going to be rolled out with the intention of covering security from the data center down to the desktop or smartphone, The Register reports.

As a first step to this, the companies have launched Cloud SSO, a single sign-on facility developed to manage authentication for a range of cloud applications that can be used to supplement or replace existing access management systems. It's built on Salesforce's Force.com architecture and uses two-factor authentication to manage user account provisioning.

Cloud SSO works via a password generation application that works with Windows, Android, iOS and RIM for endpoints and allows a single password to manage authentication across all platforms and applications. Users get a single portal showing them what applications are available, and Intel is claiming hundreds of cloud applications will work with the system, with more on the way. Those users with Intel hardware can also use Chipzilla's identity protection technology, which is built in.

IT managers can control access to applications using a variety of tools, including a single use password, and will be able to manage access based on IP address, time of access and/or specific browser types. The software also leaves a full audit trail showing who accessed what application, from where it was accessed and what the user did in it.

The system has been under beta since March and will be rolled out in a variety of one-, two- and three-year subscription offers, with the maximum price around $1.50 per user per month for the smallest users and costs "falling dramatically" for volume customers.

The SSO cloud service is a baby step in the integration of Intel and McAfee however. At Intel's recent investor's day its GM of software and services Renee James and McAfee CTO Stuart McClure promised a security system that would cover the whole gamut of security; while remaining depressingly quiet on the details.

Intel and McAfee are approaching the two-year anniversary of their merger and so far there's precious little to show for it. While McAfee is being profitably run as a subsidiary, it'll take a lot more than SSO to convince investors they got a good deal.