Network Computingwww.networkcomputing.com

Our Editor's Choice award goes to Security Dynamics Ace/Server with SecurID. This package stood out in our tests with its impressive performance and well-developed feature set. It's also a mature product firmly established in the network security market. In addition, Security Dynamics has wisely made many arrangements over the years to embed support for SecurID in a wide range of products. Despite the long-term testing we did, we felt as though we only scratched the surface of Ace/Server. Many of the technologies that other products are only beginning to introduce have been a part of Ace/Server for two or three revisions already.

The only real "gotcha" with this product are the sometimes perplexing implementation and configuration procedures. Learn from our mistakes--read everything Security Dynamics sends you. Review the PDF files on the CD and the Quick-Start booklet, which provided us with more clear instruction in four steps than we were able to glean from reading many chapters of the manual.

Don't count out Security Dynamics' competitors, though. We were impressed with up-and-comer CryptoCard and its open development concepts. Toolkits and APIs for much of the CryptoAdmin back end are readily available and CryptoCard is eager to support such development. The company is a firm believer in supporting development-minded customers as well as diverse operating platforms. Unix/Linux/BSD administrators look here. CryptoCard also has a good grasp on distributed administration, tying various CryptoAdmin systems together to let operators across your network issue and update tokens.

The solutions from Vasco and V-One rounded out the field for our tests. Vasco sent us the most varied tokens (three different tokens, not counting "soft" models) and its VACMan system offers a standard feature set. V-One's VPN solution offered a new look at remote-authentication possibilities.

Although we were pleased overall with the products that we tested, token authentication is not the silver-bullet solution some vendors would have you believe it is. It does add a thick layer of user authentication and authorization, but it is still only one piece of your larger network security puzzle. The market is very diverse and unsettled, with vendors hedging their bets by offering a little bit of everything. Be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time planning your token solution and deciding how it will integrate into your existing environment before you finally take the plunge.