OpenText NetIQ Advanced Authentication is the MFA and adaptive-authentication product inside the OpenText IAM line, supporting FIDO2 webauthn, passwordless, smart card, biometric, push notification, OTP, hardware token, and a long tail of authentication methods. Programs running heterogeneous user populations (workforce on FIDO2, contractors on OTP, customer-facing biometric, privileged users on smart card) get one MFA platform that handles all of them.
Adaptive MFA depends on risk-based authentication. Static MFA (every login requires the same factor) is too friction-heavy for low-risk operations and too weak for high-risk ones. Risk-based authentication evaluates context (user, device, location, time, behavioral pattern) and selects the appropriate authentication factor. Low-risk requests pass with a single factor, and high-risk requests step up to additional factors. Programs running adaptive authentication get the security posture without burning user experience.
FIDO2 and passwordless support is where the modernization fits in. Passwords are the most-attacked authentication factor; passwordless authentication (WebAuthn, FIDO2 hardware keys, platform authenticators) eliminates the most common attack vector. Advanced Authentication supports the modern passwordless landscape and the legacy long-tail (smart cards, OTP, hardware tokens) so programs can modernize gradually rather than rip-and-replace.
Advanced Authentication rollouts fail on enrollment more often than on technology. Users who never enrolled fall back to legacy authentication, users with stale enrollment data lose access, and contractor populations without an enrollment workflow flood the help desk. Merito's engagement scopes enrollment workflow alongside the MFA deployment, integrates with NetIQ Identity Manager for HR-driven enrollment, and designs the operating model that keeps enrollment data current.
Ideal use cases
- Risk-based adaptive MFA for workforce, customer, and privileged users
- FIDO2 and passwordless authentication rollout
- Smart card and hardware token authentication for regulated workforce
- Step-up authentication paired with Access Manager SSO
- NetIQ Advanced Authentication modernization