Identity Management: A Comprehensive Approach to Ensuring a Secure Network Infrastructure

Abstract

This chapter provides an introductory overview of identity management as it relates to data networking and enterprise information management systems. It looks at the strategic value of identity management in corporate and government environments. It defines the terms, concepts, and technologies associated with identity management. This chapter is a capstone to other chapters that deal with the specific technologies (strong identification and authentication, PKI, encryption, LDAP, etc…). Federated identity management is a strategic concept that encapsulates and integrates these disparate technologies into a coordinated, comprehensive strategy to accomplish enterprise-wide goals. This chapter introduces some practical business case concepts to assists the reader in putting together their own identity management strategies using ROI and success criteria.