DigitalPersona Altus Law Enforcement Success
March 12, 2016

DigitalPersona Altus Law Enforcement Success

Chris Creech | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with HID DigitalPersona (formerly Crossmatch)

DigitalPersona Altus is being used across our entire organization in both our office and mobile environments. Users are challenged for two-factor authentication at the Windows login. DigitalPersona Altus was originally purchased to comply with FBI CJIS Advanced Authentication (AA) policies and to provide single sign-on for our users. We were most attracted to DigitalPersona Altus due to the multiple AA factors that could be used and the fact it integrated with Active Directory, without the need for additional hardware or security appliances.

Pros

  • Multiple Advanced Authentication factors: multiple AA factors allows organizations to use different login factors (fingerprint, proxy card, one time use passwords, security questions) for a diverse workforce. We have users that are able to use fingerprint readers without any issues - others have difficultly with their fingerprints being identified and must use a different AA factor.
  • Single Sign-On: In our organization, we access many different local, state and federal systems. Our average law enforcement user will have a minimum of 5 login accounts to 10, depending on their assignment. DigitalPersona Altus allows us to securely store the different login credentials within Active Directory, reducing end user frustration and help desk calls.
  • Flexibility: DigitalPersona Altus is very configurable within Active Directory. We are able to establish different group policies for different organizational units that best serve our needs. We can establish stricter polices for some organizational units or more lenient policies for others.
  • Less I.T. Involvement: DigitalPersona Altus has allowed us to integrate AA and Single Sign-On without additional I.T. staff or even considerable ongoing I.T. staff hours.

Cons

  • Proxy Cards: Proxy cards can be used with DigitalPersona Altus as a second factor. However, the cards that can be used are limited.
We are protecting green screens, in-house and cloud applications.
  • DigitalPersona Altus has been very positive for our I.T staff in terms of configuration and management and for our end users in terms of ease of use, with minimal training.
  • Help Desk Calls: We have seen fewer calls to our help desk for password resets across most user accounts.
I believe DigitalPersona Altus is well suited for most environments. The most challenging for most of us would probably be our mobile environments in terms of reaching into our networks from the Internet. We use NetMotion for VPN services and access, which has worked well with DigitalPersona Altus.

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