Google is dead set on convincing businesses that it’s safe to move data from under their mattresses to the bank-the bank being Google Apps, of course.
To that end, Google on March 13 introduced two-factor authentication: an extra layer of access security that Google hopes will help to get businesses over the impression that Google Apps isn’t enterprise-ready.
Like all of Google Apps-Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and the recently acquired Postini security and compliance services-the token authentication will be delivered as SAAS (software as a service).
The authentication, called Arcot A-OK On-Demand, comes from Arcot Systems, maker of authentication, digital signing and cardholder authentication technologies. It’s available to customers using GAPE (Google Apps Premier Edition), for $1 per user per month, including 24×7 e-mail and phone support.