Secure Identities on Any Device, Anywhere: Introducing Duo Desktop Authentication
Available now in all paid Duo subscriptions
The launch of Duo Mobile in the early 2010s changed how businesses enabled secure authentication. Still, we have always known that there are industries and use cases that cannot rely on smartphones (or hardware tokens, SMS, and phone calls). Enter Duo Desktop authentication, which allows users to authenticate from a single laptop or desktop seamlessly when more secure forms of authentication are not available (restricted sites like clean rooms) or allowed (call centers or manufacturing sites). Duo Desktop authentication can be the solution for your edge use case:
Duo Desktop authentication isn’t a replacement for more secure authentication methods such as passkeys and Duo Verified Push. A secondary authentication device will be more secure, and your organization should always strive for the strongest protection against identity-based attacks. However, Duo Desktop authentication was developed to serve specific use cases such as call centers, manufacturing sites, clean rooms and scenarios where stronger authentication forms are unavailable. In restricted environments, employees often do not have access or cannot have access to devices, landlines, or tokens. Duo Desktop addresses this precise issue by allowing employees to authenticate using their desktops efficiently:
Reduce IT spend
For many organizations, particularly those with strict compliance or regulatory requirements, using personal devices for work is not an option and purchasing a device for every employee to authenticate can be costly. Telephony, SMS and hardware tokens, are either expensive, vulnerable or simply archaic to use across the wide variety of use cases in the market.
Duo Desktop reduces the cost of organizations needing to purchase devices, telephony credits and tokens, across use cases. Duo Desktop also reduces the administrative costs and complexities that physical device management or telephony requires. In restricted sites with high-security measures or in international territories with high shipping costs or logistical challenges, Duo Desktop authentication provides a streamlined solution that reduces administrative overhead and enhances the use case experience.
Reduce credential risk
As mentioned, Duo Desktop authentication is not a replacement for more secure forms of authentication such as passkeys or Duo Verified Push. However, Duo Desktop's registration process does help mitigate the risk of bad actors trying to pass off their own devices as ones with privileges to corporate resources by blocking devices presenting already registered device identifiers.
Duo Desktop authentication can be paired with additional security measures including Duo’s Trusted Endpoints or device health policies with Duo Desktop, which helps to bolster the security of authenticating from the desktop. This streamlined identity security approach ensures minimal disruption to operations while maximizing security and efficiency to help mitigate compromised credential attacks for the edge case where a more secure form of authentication cannot be used. It also enables administrators to implement Duo Desktop authentication quickly, empowering employees to authenticate securely without delays.
Reduce user friction
Duo Desktop authentication also serves as an efficiency driver for your organization’s edge use cases. Imagine supporting a critical service or role such as a call center for a hospital network, where authenticating faster allows critical issues to be resolved more efficiently. In this scenario, you need to limit the user friction by reducing the time to log in. By authenticating at the endpoint instead of an external authentication device like a phone call, SMS code or token OTP, Duo Desktop drives efficiency for your edge use case.
This flexibility is a plus for scenarios where traditional multi-factor authentication (MFA) methods fall short and organizations struggle with time-to-login issues during the sign-in process. Duo Desktop authentication helps Duo embody the principle of securing identities on any device, from anywhere and we are excited to hear feedback during public preview.
Experience Duo Desktop authentication today
Duo Desktop authentication is a step forward in secure access, providing organizations with a secure authentication method for use cases that are typically challenging to deploy, maintain and support. By offering a solution that eliminates the need for smartphones or tokens, Duo addresses the need of organizations across industries including security, compliance, cost management and operational efficiency.
Duo Desktop authentication is available now in all paid Duo subscriptions. You can test by deploying the Duo Desktop app and enabling Duo Desktop authentication in your Duo Policy stack to your preferred applications and identities. Review more on how to use Duo Desktop authentication on the Duo Docs page and reach out to your Duo contact to learn more today!