Identity management has evolved from a centrally controlled process to a user-driven self-service system, with complex workflows related to user access management. The desire for a single login for all interconnected systems led to the development of large, centrally controlled identity management systems like Microsoft’s Passport.net and PICOS in the European Union. Security concerns have led to increased complexity in password requirements, but users often write down their passwords, reducing security.
Identity management includes all the processes used to create and manage information system user accounts. In the world of information systems, the creation of private networks, where users had to identify themselves with a username and password, happened before. Only as systems expanded and the field of computing grew on the Internet in the early 1990s did the role of the general public or user develop.
As a result of this expansion, identity management has evolved from a centrally controlled user ID process managed by a “gatekeeper” into a user-driven self-service system. Users are now responsible for resetting and managing passwords, offloading a central system maintenance function away from the technical staff and placing this role in the hands of the user community. To address this process change, complex workflows related to user access management, approvals and account management have been developed.
With the huge expansion in the use of information systems in daily life and in the workplace, identity management has become increasingly important. The original concept of a series of independent systems has led to an unexpected problem. As the number of systems rapidly increased, the number of unique user IDs users had to maintain multiplied.
In response to fears of security breaches, the required complexity of identification management solutions has grown. The minimum number of characters in a password has increased, as has the requirement for a combination of letters, numbers and characters. These changes were made in an attempt to reduce the effectiveness of computer programs designed to breach the identity management system. This change has effectively reduced the quality of security provided in an identity management system, as users simply write down the system name, their user ID and password on paper or in another software tool in an attempt to manage this data.
Based on this behavior and the realization that the current method is no longer useful, the desire for a single login for all interconnected systems arose. A large, centrally controlled identity management system allows the user to have single sign-on, but access to multiple independent systems with one user ID and password. Different approaches are used to implement this concept.
A physical key or passport, stored on a USB or memory stick, in combination with a user ID and password to uniquely identify the user is one approach. Microsoft developed their Passport.net framework to function as an identity management system. Users create a Windows Live ID over the Internet and link their various MSN products to this account. When they sign in to Windows Live, they’re provided with a dashboard showing the various accounts and applications they’ve joined.
Within the European Union, the Privacy and Identity Management for Community Services (PICOS) was formed to investigate and create a method to manage security, privacy and identity management for mobile devices. PICOS is made up of members from seven different countries and is part of the Trust & Security Group within the EU.
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