Andreas Berger

Identity Management Systems: Introducing Yourself to the Internet Andreas Berger

Internet-scale Identity Management is a fascinatingtopic with many facets. The prevalent solution todayduplicates identity information at many, separateplaces and uses as many different passwords to accessand protect them. Users cannot handle the resultingplethora of credentials and weak security is theresult. Plenty of technical approachesto remedy the situation exist, but little of themhave managed to offer a complete and secure solution. Above all of them floats the keyword Single Sign-Onas a seemingly trivial way out of the mess. But agreat number of pitfalls prevented the success ofalmost all systems proposed so far. This bookdiscusses prominent systems of the past andshows why they have failed to be adapted for theInternet. Based on a study of these deficiencies, wederive basic requirements to be adapted by futuresystems. An overview and comparison brings light intothe jungle of current approaches. Among others, wediscuss Windows CardSpace, OpenID, and the LibertyAlliance Project. Practial examples complete thediscussions.