Configure MFA Between RSA SecurID and the Firewall
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Configure MFA Between RSA SecurID and the Firewall

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Configure MFA Between RSA SecurID and the Firewall

Multi-factor authentication allows you to protect company assets by using multiple factors to verify a user’s identity before allowing them to access network resources. To enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) between the firewall and the RSA SecurID Access Cloud Authentication Service, you must first configure the RSA SecurID Service so that you have the details that you need to configure the firewall to authenticate users using multiple factors. After you have performed the required configuration on the RSA SecurID Access Console, you can configure the firewall to integrate with RSA SecurID.
The Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewall integrates with the RSA SecurID Access Cloud Authentication Service. The MFA API integration with RSA SecurID is supported for cloud-based services only and does not support two-factor authentication for the on-premise Authentication Manager when the second factor uses the Vendor Specific API. The minimum content version required for this integration is 752 and PAN-OS 8.0.2.

Get the RSA SecurID Access Cloud Authentication Service Details

In order to securely pass user authentication requests to and from the firewall and the RSA SecurID Access Cloud Authentication Service, you must first go to the RSA SecurID Access Console and configure the RSA Access ID, the authentication service URL, and the client API key that the firewall needs to authenticate to and interact with the service. The firewall also needs the Access Policy ID that uses either the RSA Approve or RSA Tokencode authentication method to authenticate to the identity source.
  • Generate the RSA SecurID API key
    —Log on to RSA SecurID Access Console and select
    My Account
    Company Settings
    Authentication API Keys
    .
    Add
    a new key and then
    Save Settings
    and
    Publish Changes
    .
  • Get the RSA SecurID Access endpoint API (Authentication Service Domain) to which the firewall must connect
    —Select
    Platform
    Identity Routers
    , pick an Identity Router to
    Edit
    and jot down the
    Authentication Service Domain
    . In this example it is https://rsaready.auth-demo.auth.
  • Get the Access Policy ID
    —Select
    Access
    Policies
    and jot down the name of the access policy that will allow the firewall to act as an authentication client to the RSA SecurID service. The policy must be configured to use either the RSA Approve or the RSA Tokencode authentication methods only.

Configure the Firewall for MFA with RSA SecurID

After you Get the RSA SecurID Access Cloud Authentication Service Details, you can configure the firewall to prompt users for an RSA SecurID token when MFA is invoked.
  1. Configure the firewall to trust the SSL certificate provided by the RSA SecurID Access endpoint API.
    1. Export the SSL certificate from the RSA SecurID Access endpoint and import it into the firewall.
      To enable trust between the firewall and the RSA SecurID Access endpoint API, you must either import a self-signed certificate, or the CA certificate used to sign the certificate.
    2. Configure a Certificate Profile (
      Device
      Certificate Management
      Certificate Profile
      and click
      Add
      ).
  2. Configure Authentication Portal (
    Device
    User Identification
    Authentication Portal Settings
    ) in Redirect mode to display a web form for authenticating to RSA SecureID. Make sure to specify the Redirect Host as an IP address or a hostname (with no periods in its name) that resolves to the IP address of the Layer 3 interface on the firewall to which web requests are redirected.
  3. Configure a multi-factor authentication server profile to specify how the firewall must connect with the RSA SecurID cloud service
    (Device
    Server Profiles
    Multi Factor Authentication
    and click
    Add
    ).
    1. Enter a
      Name
      to identify the MFA server profile.
    2. Select the
      Certificate Profile
      that you created earlier, rsa-cert-profile in this example. The firewall will use this certificate when establishing a secure connection with RSA SecurID cloud service.
    3. In the
      MFA Vendor
      drop-down, select
      RSA SecurID Access
      .
    4. Configure the
      Value
      for each attribute that you noted in Get the RSA SecurID Access Cloud Authentication Service Details:
      • API Host
        —Enter the hostname or IP address of the RSA SecurID Access API endpoint to which the firewall must connect, rsaready.auth-demo.auth in this example.
      • Base URI
        —Do not modify the default value (/mfa/v1_1)
      • Client Key
        —Enter the RSA SecurID Client Key.
      • Access ID
        —Enter the RSA SecurID Access ID.
      • Assurance Policy
        —Enter the RSA SecurID Access Policy name, mfa-policy in this example.
      • Timeout
        —The default is 30 seconds.
    5. Save the profile.
  4. Configure an authentication profile (
    Device
    Authentication Profile
    and click
    Add
    ).
    The profile defines the order of the authentication factors that users must respond to.
    1. Select the
      Type
      for the first authentication factor and select the corresponding
      Server Profile
      .
    2. Select
      Factors
      ,
      Enable Additional Authentication Factors
      , and
      Add
      the rsa-mfa server profile you created earlier in this example.
    3. Click
      OK
      to save the authentication profile.
  5. Configure an authentication enforcement object. (
    Objects
    Authentication
    and click
    Add
    ).
    Make sure to select the authentication profile you just defined called RSA in this example.
  6. Configure an Authentication policy rule. (
    Policies
    Authentication
    and click
    Add
    )
    Your authentication policy rule must match the services and applications you want to protect, specify the users who must authenticate, and include the authentication enforcement object that triggers the authentication profile. In this example, RSA SecurID Access authenticates all users who accessing HTTP, HTTPS, SSH, and VNC traffic with the authentication enforcement object called RSA Auth Enforcement (in
    Actions
    , select the
    Authentication Enforcement
    object).
  7. Commit
    your changes on the firewall.
  8. Verify that users on your network are being secured using RSA SecurID using the Push or PIN Code authentication method you enabled.
    1. Push authentication
      1. Ask a user on your network to launch a web browser and access a website. The Authentication Portal page with the IP address or hostname for the Redirect Host you defined earlier should display.
      2. Verify that the user enters the credentials for the first authentication factor and then continues to the secondary authentication factor, and selects
        Push
        .
      3. Check for a
        Sign-In request
        on the RSA SecurID Access application on the user’s mobile device.
      4. Ask the user to
        Accept
        the Sign-In Request on the mobile device, and wait for a few seconds for the firewall to receive the notification of successful authentication. The user should be able to access the requested website.
        To test an authentication failure,
        Decline
        the sign-in request on the mobile device.
    2. PIN Code authentication
      1. Ask a user on your network to launch a web browser and access a website. The Authentication Portal page with the IP address or hostname for the redirect host you defined earlier should display.
      2. Verify that the user enters the credentials for the first authentication factor and then continues to the secondary authentication factor, and selects
        PIN Code
        .
      3. Check that a
        PIN Code
        displays on the RSA SecurID Access application on the user’s mobile device.
      4. Ask the user to copy the PIN code in the
        Enter the PIN...
        prompt of the web browser and click
        Submit
        . Wait for a few seconds for the firewall to receive the notification of successful authentication. The user should be able to access the requested website.

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