Identity Management

The boundaries between the real and the virtual are becoming increasingly blurred. In a corporate setting, it is more important than ever to identify and control the way the organization deals with customers, suppliers, employees, and other users who may interact with information systems.

Identity Management, or IDM, refers to how humans are identified and authorized across computer networks. It encompasses issues such as the way users are given an identity, the protection of that identity, and the technologies supporting that protection, such as network protocols, digital certificates, passwords, and so on. Proper identity management is, of course, an essential component of any security strategy.

Identity Management: A Primer provides a complete and comprehensive overview of the elements required for a properly planned identity environment. In it, the authors cover the entire gamut of IDM-related matters, including directories; authentication; provisioning; role-based access control; single sign-on; governance, risk, and compliance; implementation and roadmap; public key infrastructure; electronic identity smartcards; and a wealth of other important topics.

As the title indicates, this book is a primer in which the key issues of identity management are identified and appropriate strategies and preventative measures are covered in an easy-to-understand format, with extensive use of real-world case study examples. Students and IT professionals alike will appreciate this resource as they seek to understand and master the complexity of identity in a virtual world.

With Identity Management: A Primer, you will:

• Understand the concept of identity management in planning an environment that will manage identities in order to improve compliance with governance requirements
• Discover the best way to scope the IDM task to construct a roadmap that moves toward the desired goal
• Learn to plan an environment that interfaces systemically rather than grow disparate and isolated components
• Find a case study and discussion questions in each chapter for real-world grounding of the topics