Split ID Management Can Secure Physical ...

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September 22, 2003 (Computerworld) -- ... and virtual assets more effectively than traditional security measures, claims Phil Libin, president of CoreStreet Ltd., a security firm in Cambridge, Mass. According to Libin, if you divide identity management functions into an authentication process (you are who you say you are) and authorization (you can do what you try to do), your systems will be at least as secure as a monolithic system, and you'll be able to protect physical assets with the same technology. "Use whatever authentication technology you choose -- biometrics, passwords, digital certificates, whatever -- but don't use the same system for authorization," he warns. That's because most combination identification management products use a centralized LDAP or Microsoft Active Directory database to authorize what a user can do once he's been authenticated. That's OK if all you're doing is having people log onto computers locally. But Libin says performance will be unacceptable for a widely distributed organization or for linking physical access with your online authorization system. The company's (take a breath) CoreStreet Real Time Credential Validation Authority purports to fix that. It uses edge servers, such as those offered by Akamai Technologies Inc., also in Cambridge, to send fast, 20B authorizations to requesting devices -- even door locks. That's why Stockholm-based Assa Abloy AB, the world's largest maker of locks with brands such as Yale and Chubb, will be adopting the technology in early 2004.
• And if you're building an identity management system in Web services, you're probably fumbling with lots of Java or .Net code and gazing at all the specifications being bandied about the industry, hoping to follow the right path. Well, early next quarter, you might get some relief when Phaos Technology Corp. in New York releases Liberty Identity Management 1.0. The product can take existing ID management software offerings, such as those from Netegrity Inc. in Waltham, Mass., or Oblix Inc. in Cupertino, Calif., and tie them into a Web services application following the proposed industry standards. "Beats the heck out of trying to do it yourself," says Phaos CEO Roger Sullivan. Makes you wonder whether that's a warning or a promise to Web services developers.

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