Chevron ditches passwords

Several death knells for the venerable password are beginning to sound. How about this one for a grand scale: Chevron early next year plans to eliminate the last of 50,000 network passwords, finalizing a transition to a smart card-based system designed to dramatically increase security and privacy while cutting costs.

In January, users in 200 countries and in 1,800 offices worldwide will have no other means to log on to the network and gain access to resources other than their Chevron SmartBadge, a plastic card with three chips that support building and network access, desktop logon and single sign-on to nearly 3,000 applications. The password's death is a milestone four years in the making. During that time, the oil giant has been rolling out SmartBadge and the infrastructure to support two-factor authentication on a single card as its corporate identity, privacy and security standard.

Other companies use badges that combine building and network access, but Chevron is the pioneer for also including desktop logon, certificates for digital signatures and encryption, and single sign-on.

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