No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Gemalto Protiva [EOL] vs Symantec Advanced Authentication comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Gemalto Protiva [EOL]
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Symantec Advanced Authentic...
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (22nd)
 

Featured Reviews

PC
RAS Team Lead at Produban USA
A cost-effective solution, but the user interface lacks the ability to customize
In the UK, I think that we are one of the biggest utilizers of the service. With the restrictions that it has, I don't think it's got massive upscalability. For general users it is fine, but the scalability could be better. We started with approximately eight and a half thousand users, and we currently have about twelve-thousand people using it. This is used widely across a number of user groups, including administrators, end users, general users, and specific privileged users for two-factor authentication. We do plan to increase the usage of this solution. Our current capacity is fourteen thousand but we will probably grow beyond that.
Umair (Abu Mohaymin) Akhlaque - PeerSpot reviewer
Group CEO at Flexsolutions
Ensures robust security features and ease of deployment, although it may lack some of the more modern authentication options
There has been a need for aggressive development to modernize the product and align it with contemporary security requirements. While the rebranding has been a step forward, further enhancements are essential to meet the evolving demands of the market. It lacks features such as ActiveSync Exchange security, and it doesn't offer alternatives like password-less authentication via biometrics or patches. While Symantec mainly relies on traditional token-based or password-based methods, newer authentication methods are missing from its repertoire. Support services often lack promptness and depth of knowledge, leaving customers waiting for weeks to resolve issues. In the realm of multifactor authentication, swift resolution of problems is critical, as any slowdown or interruption can significantly impact operations. Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature for us is the ability to use Active Directory groups as virtual containers instead of domains because it means that we can control our access groups better."
"The Gemalto Protiva suite is really complete as it has smart card managed software, Secure Digital Key, drivers, smart card reader, smart card, OTP readers etc."
"Ease of deployment: no need to keep up with physical devices for multi-factor authentication; no software to deploy on end-user computers requiring administrative rights."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it's a strong authentication solution that's able to integrate with applications."
"One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability."
"The most valuable feature is that we get a wide range of authentication methods and authentication integrators, so different platforms can get service authentication with transparency to the final user while providing strong authentication forms and connectors."
"It tells us exactly what we want in terms of authentication to various applications and provides protection for users who access them."
"Rules on Risk Authentication are very good."
"Symantec Advanced Authentication can be useful for wherever you require a strong authentication."
"It allows us to assure our customers that we are protecting their data."
 

Cons

"The user interface needs improvement. It is not obvious where things are; while the cosmetics are ok, the way it's laid out on the screen could be better."
"The user interface needs improvement."
"We have seen quite a few issues with bugginess. It is indeed pretty buggy and we have had to install some fixes."
"Arcot itself is based on a browser technology. This means that the office ID is effectively stored as a cookie in the browser."
"This solution could be improved with risk-based authentication. I think that this product has everything that most customers are looking for, but modern technology has people looking for security tools with risk-based authentication, which they have a separate tool for. If they could integrate this, it would improve Symantec Advanced Authentication. They have to look at what's newly trending and how things are moving forward, and then adapt and adopt those features. Symantec's technical support should also be improved, in terms of response time."
"The initial setup of the tenant is a big cost element of the service and we were doing multiple tenants for our customer."
"Advanced Authentication talks about the Device ID. But how the device ID is captured, I want to know more about that."
"It needs faster implementation on the cloud for our customers."
"Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation."
"Sometimes getting this set up does take a bit longer. It's not always install, next, next, next, finish."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is a cost-effective solution compared to some other products out there."
"The price is reasonable."
"There are eventually going to be implementation costs. Sometimes you're required to have custom code developments there, so that has to be part of the implementation price."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Authentication Systems solutions are best for your needs.
917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
17%
Construction Company
17%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Large Enterprise7
 

Also Known As

Protiva
CA Advanced Authentication, CA Strong Authentication, CA Risk Authentication, Arcot WebFort, Arcot RiskFort
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Exostar, Sunrise Health Region, Baker Tilly, Seattle Children's, SEW-Eurodrive
Global bank, Large Filipino Bank and SK Infosec
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Cisco, Okta and others in Authentication Systems. Updated: September 2026.
917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.