Blog

By Marc-Anthony Signorino, Executive Director of the IDESG

In my job, I get to talk to lots of C-Suite executives about identity management, and they all tell me the same thing: identity is tough. It’s tough to understand, it’s tough to implement and it’s tough to get right. Because they appreciate that, it’s no surprise they’re the ones rolling up their sleeves to help us develop the Identity Ecosystem Framework (IDEF). They see getting in on the ground floor of IDESG as not only an investment in their own company’s future, but also one that will pay dividends as other organizations realize they need to participate as well. It’s simple economics: network effects exponentially increases the value of the IDEF as other organizations join the IDESG and implement the Framework.

On May 22, 2015, the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group (IDESG) was proud to submit its comments regarding the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) SP 800-63-2, Electronic Authentication Guideline.

By Dave Burhop

As members of IDESG, you are fully aware that a simple username and password are not sufficient to safeguard consumers’ identity. In March, Virginia took steps to address this problem and became the first state to enact legislation designed to strengthen and authenticate digital identities. The bill, issued by the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS), has been approved by the General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Terry McAuliffe. The bill, which was introduced by Senator John Watkins, will become effective July 1.

IDESG Plenary Chair, Kim Little Sutherland discusses "Getting In on the Ground floor: A preview of the Identity Ecosystem Framework" at the RSA conference held April 21, 2015

By Jenn Behrens, MSW, PhD, CIPM, CIPP/US

For years, RadioShack made a promise to its customers: provide us with your data, and we will not sell or rent it to third parties. This agreement between the company and its customers worked well until recently when the company filed for bankruptcy, and it became clear that its customers’ data – more than 65 million names and physical addresses and over 13 million email addresses (link is external) – is a valuable financial asset. And, during bankruptcy proceedings, assets are for sale. This put the issue of customer data privacy at the center of the bankruptcy proceeding. The title of an article by The Dallas Morning News framed the immediate issue well: How safe is your information when a company goes bankrupt? (link is external)

By Matthew Thompson

According to a recent Gallup Poll, (link is external) Americans worry more about having their credit card information stolen than any other crime. The survey also found that more than one in four Americans have had their information hacked within the past year. The rising costs of identity theft have negatively affected our nation’s economy and have eroded public confidence. IDESG is working very hard to change this.

Cathy Tilton: Pushing Past Passwords

In over 20 years of working in the biometrics space, I’ve seen significant leaps in both technology and its application; ideas that were once considered science fiction (or at least James Bond) that are now used and being considered as mainstream authentication methods. This is an exciting time: a convergence of individual privacy, innovative applications and commercial needs.

By Jim Barnett

Members of IDESG have been hard at work building the identity framework, and we've invested time and effort honing our mission and vision for the internet. Now comes the fun part: telling our story.

By Kimberly Little Sutherland, IDESG, Treasurer & Plenary Chair
Mary Ellen Condon, IDESG, Executive Director

As you know, this summer we applied for a grant from NIST to support the continued efforts by the IDESG membership to facilitate identity interoperability among industry solutions.

Article originally posted at https://nstic.blogs.govdelivery.com/2013/07/09/three-hundred-million-reasons-to-federate-identity-an-irs-case-study/

The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) envisions an “Identity Ecosystem” in which organizations and individuals may leverage trusted identities for access to services on the Internet. Shifting the paradigm of each organization deploying and maintaining its own stove-piped user account management system, organizations may instead deploy solutions that accept trusted credentials issued by 3rd parties, resulting in significant time and cost savings. A key component of the NSTIC mission is to advance this vision in U.S. government.