Architecting Identity Management

Until recently, identity and access management were not very widely-used terms in a security context. For the most part, identity management was associated with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directories, such as Novell’s eDirectory, and was seen as the means to manage user credentials for operating systems and networks (such as Windows Networking using Active Directory). While that is a perfectly legitimate view of identity management, it should not be limited to those specific contexts. The same basic challenges of user authentication, authorization, and auditing exist in every IT architectural component that involves end user interaction, such as web portals, customer management systems, point-of-sale systems, analysis and....