Olympic back-up staff lock down support

The English Institute of Sport (EIS) is using token-based security technology to keep medical data secure during the Athens Olympics.

The EIS team, including nutritionists, coaches and medical staff, is accompanying Team GB to next month's Athens Olympics and will rely on laptops and the internet for access to critical data.

EIS chose SecureID software from RSA Security on its desktops. Since its first trial implementation, the organisation has increased its use gradually in preparation for the games.

"Our staff deliver their services to the athletes in our high-performance centres, and they also travel out to athletes," said Mark Richards, EIS information systems manager.

"Staff need to access an internet-based medical records system for elite athletes. Obviously that needs to be highly secure. And we have our own specialist database that we provide to track services provided to the athletes."

Users are authenticated on EIS systems by one Pin so that staff do not have to remember multiple passwords.

A SecureID token generates a new passcode unique to that user's access profile every 60 seconds. The user enters their Pin along with a new passcode before being able to access the IT systems via the EIS network.

"We now have the same confidence and security around our data and our systems in this country as it is if our laptops go overseas somewhere," said Richards.