Google Authenticator vs. HID DigitalPersona vs. Symantec VIP

Logging into my work accounts is where Google Authenticator works best. Also, I had a personal account get hacked. I had an account created to book hotels, but someone was constantly resetting my password. To prevent further hacking attempts, I set up Google Authenticator. I do not believe it would be appropriate for banking accounts.

Incentivized

During the onboarding process, remote workers can enroll their fingerprints or create secure PINs. This eliminates the need for complicated passwords and enables them to safely access company resources and critical apps from remote locations. HID DigitalPersona's robust authentication techniques and access control features can assist you in adhering to data security laws.

Incentivized

Symantec VIP is best suited in environments where you need two factor authentication. As explained before, Symantec VIP is super easy to use and manage for our users across our entire organization. If you have your users using a virtual private network, Symantec VIP is the way to go; no doubt about it!

Incentivized

• One strength is in how it checks identity to stop unwanted people from getting access.
• Another strength is in cutting down on the frustration of users for the authentication process.
• With the pandemic and needing to work away from the office it also provided additional security in keeping our network/infrastructure safe.

Incentivized

• Speeding up the login process with fingerprint in PIN rather than having to remember a long password. Our IT department has seen a huge decrease in the amount of account lockout and forgot password calls.
• It is highly customizable to meet the needs of remote or on-premises workers. It is all configurable through group policy, so it is very easy to set specific requirements on certain groups.
• Setup was quick and the administration guides are very easy to follow if you need to go back in and adjust things.

Incentivized

• The UI is intuitive and simple to use and navigate. When generating a secure token to be used for VPN access, all the navigation is clear and intuitive. There is no confusion when our users use Symantec VIP.
• Every generated token expires after 30-60 seconds, thus providing an extra layer of security and reducing any risk of someone re-using a token or pin to gain unauthorized access into our system.
• The app is super responsive and has no lag and little to no latency. Everything loads quickly and is super speedy.
• Our department can opt for a 6 digit code which we can use while logging in on different sites and SSO access can be easily set up and achieved with this tool.

Incentivized

• I once performed a factory reset of my smartphone which had Google Authenticator. I didn't have a backup for the device. When I restored my phone with the same google account, I was not able to restore the authenticator app settings. I had to add all the keys back into the app to use it. This is cumbersome, but I understand it is set up this way for security reasons.
• I don't like the ease with which it lets you delete a key. If I accidentally delete a key, I am doomed to get my 2FA key reset, unless I still have the QR code saved somewhere.

Incentivized

• I find that sometimes I have had to delete a users fingerprints and re-add them. There must be something going on where the software believes that the user has changed their fingerprints.
• I have on occasion come across a person where the reader was unable to create fingerprints for that user. It would be interesting to see if the sensitivity of the 4500 reader could be improved on.
• I find that using the DigitalPersona software makes the users ultimately forget their passwords. Maybe every once in a while the software could require the user to type in their Windows password to help them remember it.

Incentivized

• when setting a token to a phone call, the phone calls often take a minute + to call the user.
• When Symantec's VIP app is removed or reinstalled on a phone, the credential ID will change, and that dictates a call to the helpdesk to allow the user access.
• Temporary security codes while handy, must be set to expire immediately to stay secure.

Incentivized

It works as intended, easy to setup, free and gives you another level of security against any unwanted access or cyber attacks

Incentivized

It is wonderful for multifactor authentication and gives us many options for what we use to authenticate. All of our users use it and it is engrained into our group policies and people would be very disappointed if it went away.

Incentivized

It's as easy as opening the app and what I need it for is there. I don't have to fumble with other accounts or getting something else to open it for me. I have all the access that I need for the use of the app within seconds and I can get access to the info that I need.

I think there are still fundamental enhancements needed to be added to the management consoles and I think there ought to be a Centralized, Windows Based "Thick" Management Application instead of individual utilities which vary from MMCs, Scripts, Wizards, etc.

Incentivized

In terms of availability, I had not experienced any issues with outages or the product not working when needed

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The performance of google Authenticator is good and I have not experienced any slow downs

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I have found Google’s support to be hit or miss. There are times when they are very responsive, and I get my issue resolved quickly, and there are times where a response from them takes weeks. There is no in-between. But my support experience with this particular product is nonexistent because I have not had a problem with it yet. Hopefully, we do not have any problems with it either.

Incentivized

Extremely poor; I've never encountered such. Professional Services completely dropped us for months. Crossmatch tech support seems like it has 3 techs tops! No response to emails, calls, the absolute worst! I will never recommend DP to anyone.

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Great vendor support, along with a great product solution

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It was easy to implement and it went very smoothly. No issues

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Could use tools to audit license usage at a more granular level as to allow an administrator to free up licenses from users whom seldom use their biometrics to login.

Incentivized

First, Google Authenticator meets the security requirements which should be considered "table stakes". Second, simplicity is critical. Many users don' understand why they are setting up MFA (or they just don't care), and so adding additional complications to their day-to-day is always challenging. When it is simple, it makes life a lot easier. Finally, trust (due to the brand name recognition, primarily) removes any notion of "what is this?" that the user may have from being required to install something on their personal device for work purposes.

Incentivized

We have used One Identity for software tokens. The Defender software tokens were originally included with our bundle and work pretty well for integration into the AnyConnect VPN client with Cisco. All that said, we use the two products for different applications and DP does what it does very well.

Incentivized

The Symantec VIP solution has a more easy implementation process, which makes implementation faster. The Prove Of Concept of the solution presents the best results compared with Duo. The final price charged was cheaper. Consultants that participate in the process get show to us in a more clear manner all scenarios where we can use the Symantec VIP.

Incentivized

The product doesn’t have any features of tools that can help it scale

Incentivized

• More secure data = less worried about a data breach.
• Takes longer to log in, and if I don't have my phone then I have to go looking for it, so it really makes it so that you can't be without your phone, which in certain instances is annoying or not possible and can hold up work time.
• Everyone is willing to use the same program because everyone likes Google—makes it easier to manage.

Incentivized

• I'm happy to say I'm not involved in budgeting or finance, but the financial benefits are easy to state: Less helpdesk time - helpdesk staff don't have to spend time resetting people's passwords.
• Users don't have to wait for Helpdesk to get around to helping them log in.

Incentivized

• It was as easy to implement and manage as promised, so that definitely saved us time and frustration.
• It allowed us to improve on our existing PHI and PII security measures.
• Allowing secure access from remote locations, especially smart phones, was a huge plus.

Incentivized