Digital identity management solutions are updated at RSA show Forgotten passwords are the bane of IT administrators but may prove to be a boon for RSA Security and ActivCard. Answering administrators’ calls for improved authentication, the companies heralded new functionalities last week at RSA Conference in San Francisco.In partnership with Microsoft, RSA introduced RSA SecurID for Microsoft Windows, which allows two-factor authentication. End-users are given a token that generates a random six-digit number every 60 seconds. That number is then used in conjunction with a PIN (personal identification number) selected by the user to form a two-factor password to log on to Windows. Server software that manages the users generates the unique six-digit number.RSA competitor ActivCard also announced that its tokens — similar to those RSA will issue in conjunction with the aforementioned Windows solution — are available for $15 with a lifetime replacement option. The offer is aimed at those who use RSA tokens, said Andy Smith, senior product marketing manager at ActivCard. RSA’s tokens are programmed to expire in three, four-, and five-year increments even though they do not have to expire. Average price for a token is between $40 and $70.ActivCard also introduced a single platform that allows administrators to manage SSO (single sign-on), secure remote access, and smart-card-based ID cards from a single infrastructure. Smith said administrators have long asked for a centralized management platform for the various digital identities.Also at the show, RSA, ActivCard, Authenex, Network Associates, and others announced support for Microsoft’s Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004, as well as its application layer firewall, VPN, and Web cache solution. Security