Security will be top of the agenda at the CeBit
exhibition and conference which opens in Hanover, Germany, later
this week. Analysts saying that identity management will be the key
technology that users need to explore.
The twin issues of data compliance and identity theft would
propel companies towards identity management products, said Neil
Macehiter, partner at Macehiter Ward-Dutton.
"I expect to see the large vendors, all of whom are aggressively
moving into the market, espousing the virtues of their identity
management suites," he said.
But he added, "While on paper these vendors are positioned to
provide an integrated set of offerings addressing the full range of
identity management requirements, from provisioning through to
audit and compliance, the reality is somewhat different.
"CeBit attendees should look to scrape off the marketing veneer
and scrutinise the validity of the integration claims. Is there
unified management? Is there a unified repository? Does the
solution provide common workflow?"
CeBit will also feature security systems with stronger
authentication using multiple means rather than just passwords.
"Vendors will be promoting solutions to increase consumer
confidence and minimise risk through one-time password tokens,
schemes that exploit devices such as mobile phones, and a variety
of other approaches to reduce the reliance on passwords," said
Macehiter.
Federated identity systems - where users can access resources
across the networks of several "trusted" partners - would also
feature heavily, he said, reflecting the need for organisations to
collaborate with each other.
Andrew Kellett, senior research analyst at Butler Group, added,
"There will be a growing importance to the identity management
sector and its role across all public- and private-sector
organisations."
Kellett added that as an extension of existing identity and
access management models, there would be a growing need for
organisations to implement systems that dealt effectively with new
security threats such as phishing and pharming (redirecting users
to malicious websites) and other forms of identity theft.
Expect to see the major vendors talking about
"protect-against-everything" security products, said Kellett.
Such applications are being developed by CA, McAfee and
Symantec, among others.
"This takes in the appliance and software-driven approaches of
these vendors and covers mainstream protection products such as
anti-virus, anti-spam, spyware, firewalls, and intrusion prevention
and detection products," said Kellett.