MessageMedia, LLC
SMS-based Two Factor Authentication

Today, CIOs realize the potential of robust security systems to fulfill growing compliance requirements as well as detecting and managing cyber attacks. However, balancing cost and user experience with the ever increasing threats and compliance requirements remains challenging. “Hard costs of security are accompanied by administrative and management costs of deployment and support,” begins Mark Rothert, U.S. President, MessageMedia. IT managers need partners that can help with both hard and administrative costs.

“The BYOD trend, combined with the proliferation of web applications and distributed workforces, has complicated efforts to secure a network. Strong authentication is a cornerstone of security strategy,” says Rothert. “MessageMedia’s Two Factor Authentication (2FA) solution uses the one app that comes pre-installed on all cell phones—SMS.” The company’s enterprise-ready SMS messaging platform is designed to deliver one-time passcodes for 2FA through SMS.

Partnered with RSA security, MessageMedia has augmented its solution to be easily integrated with RSA’s SecurID offering. Through this integration, organizations can use their existing RSA SecurID platform to generate the one-time passcode and then deliver it to the end-user via SMS. The SMS replaces the need for traditional hard or soft tokens that typically cost $40-60 and have to be renewed every few years.

The SMS-based solution works with RSA’s On-Demand Authenticator license which costs roughly $20 and does not need to be renewed, giving increased flexibility for organizations dealing with sensitive and volatile information. “Integrating our SMS service is a simple matter of entering a few parameters into the admin control interface of the RSA platform, which means that 2FA can be deployed much more quickly and easily than before,” says Rothert. The ease of deployment lessens the burden on administrators during implementation as well.

Breaches such as the Target breach have shown contractors are often targeted by hackers. While it may not be feasible to issue hard or soft tokens to these users, authenticating them via SMS is a simple and effective alternative.

Recently, a high-profile company suffering from a high-profile data breach approached MessageMedia to deliver a robust authentication solution quickly. “The ease of deployment of our SMS-based solution and our hands-on, solutions-oriented approach helped the client dramatically improve their security posture in a very short period,” says Rothert. MessageMedia worked closely with the company to design and implement a solution that involved a large, global user base and a variety of authentication scenarios.

MessageMedia’s clientele include organizations that deal in heavily regulated information like government bodies, financial companies, and entities in the healthcare sector. This mandates a secure channel for communication which MessageMedia provides. “We encrypt traffic from our clients to our gateway via SSL or IPSEC protocols and our gateway to carrier networks via IPSEC,” says Rothert.

Using client input in their product development process and regularly releasing improvements help MessageMedia be agile and stay ahead of the competition. The partnership with RSA gives MessageMedia a good view into developments in the field of authentication security. “We go out of our way to make sure that our product development priorities are in sync with those of RSA,” says Rothert.

MessageMedia is completing a major upgrade to their already robust platform that will improve processing power, reliability, and flexibility. MessageMedia also has efforts in place to build its ecosystem of software partners. “We view ourselves as an industry leader serving the most demanding customers and like to partner with companies—like RSA—that have similar perspectives,” concludes Rothert.