A growing number of organizations around the world, such as financial institutions and governments, are providing their workers with a smart card device to strengthen the identity authentication process. These organizations are facing a problem while implementing Skype for Business (Lync) mobile authentication requiring the user to enter his or her Active Directory (AD) credentials.

In such organizations, users do not have Active Directory credentials as they use the smart card for authentication instead. This in turn may cause a problem, as Microsoft Skype for Business requires Active Directory (AD) credentials to connect from handheld devices.

To solve this problem, SkypeShield has developed a new security solution for smart card authentication enabling mobile Skype for Business authentication for organizations with a network policy that requires their workers to use smart card login.

SkypeShield’s innovative solution addresses this challenge by applying the authentication process in two separate steps:

• The user creates dedicated Skype for Business credentials from a self-service registration web site after using his/her smart card for authentication to the site from a PC.

• The user then needs to connect his/her mobile device within a limited time frame by entering the dedicated Skype for Business credentials on the mobile device.

SkypeShield’s new solution also addresses account lockout protection and Two Factor Authentication (TFA) for external Skype for Business clients.

“We were approached by customers who couldn’t find a good solution for smart card authentication,” said Guy Eldan, CEO of AGAT Software, which developed SkypeShield. “Our simple and easy-to-implement security solution allows organizations to continue maintaining the smart card authentication policy enabling mobile users connect to the corporate network from outside network without using Active Directory credentials.”