RSA: Microsoft pledges support for OpenID
519907
Microsoft will support the OpenID standard, Bill Gates and Craig Mundie said today at RSA.
52048
UPDATE: Yahoo user names and passwords can soon be used to access Web sites that support the OpenID 2.0 digital identity framework.
533106
The announcement this week by Yahoo that it is planning to test a beta version of its Yahoo ID that supports the OpenID 2.0 protocol has thrown a bright spotlight on the quickly growing online identity-management system.
459314
Online giant teams up with RSA Security to keep users' account info safe.
293828
New browser security technology is in the works and due for display at RSA in February.
359954
InfoWorld - It may be Valentine&#39;s Day but there are no love letters being exchanged between duelling electronic document formats, ODF (OpenDocument Format) and Open XML. Instead, Microsoft, the backer of Open XML, took a public swing at ODF supporter IBM.
691361
Microsoft is recasting ambitions for its .Net Passport identification system, saying the service now will be limited to its own online offerings and those of close partners. Microsoft no longer sees Passport as a single sign-on system for the Web at large, a spokeswoman said.
7619
IBM, Google, Microsoft, Verisign and Yahoo have joined the corporate board of the OpenID Foundation, giving a boost to the groupâs efforts to simplify the process of signing into Web sites.
637191
Disputes over Microsoft&#39;s intellectual-property claims to its Sender ID technology are unlikely to slow the push toward developing a secure e-mail identity, according to e-mail industry representatives.
571183
IBM, Google, Microsoft, Verisign, and Yahoo have joined the corporate board of the&#160;OpenID Foundation, giving a boost to the group&#39;s efforts to simplify the process of signing into Web sites.The OpenID framework allows people to use a single user name and password to sign into sites that support it.More than 10,000 Web sites now support OpenID log-ins, according to the foundation. Last month,&#160;Yahoo announced&#160;its 248 million active registered users could begin using their handle and password to login to non-Yahoo Web sites that&#160;support the OpenID 2.0 framework.The closer links between OpenID and these major vendors is sure to help the foundation&#39;s effort, according to its executive director, Bill Washburn. &quot;The community has clearly expanded since the inception of the Foundation and these companies will help bring OpenID into the mainstream markets,&quot; he said in a statement.Another statement on the foundation&#39;s Web site went into further detail on what the new alliances could mean.&quot;In 2008, we can expect to see a larger focus on making OpenID even more accessible to a mainstream audience, the development of a World-wide trademark usage policy (much like the Jabber Foundation and Mozilla have done), and a larger international focus on working with the OpenID communities in Asia and Europe,&quot; it read.&quot;We think this is one of the largest efforts put into identity management as far as the Internet is concerned,&quot; said Anthony Nadalin, an IBM distinguished engineer and chief security architect for Tivoli software, in an interview Thursday.Nadalin couldn&#39;t pinpoint when the vendors&#39; new level of involvement with OpenID will produce tangible results. &quot;This takes a little bit of time, understanding and agreeing on the issues and where we need to drive this set of technology,&quot; he said.&quot;IBM is well-known for its ability to produce secure protocols,&quot; he added. &quot;We have quite a bit of talent to bring to this foundation.&quot;He noted that Version 2.0 of the OpenID framework is still fairly new.&quot;You can&#39;t confuse the industry by coming in and throwing out a brand-new framework,&quot; Nadalin said, &quot;I think it&#39;s coming down to that on the 2.0 level, we get the kind of interoperability we need.&quot;Beyond sign-on, various efforts are underway to&#160;standardize how personal data can be moved around the Web. The Dataportability Workgroup wants to broaden the scope of portable data to things like user-created photos and videos.
672085
(InfoWorld) - At next week's RSA Conference in San Francisco smart card vendor GemaltoÂ will introduce new technology designed to give online shoppers an easy way to log on to their accounts using a smart card device that plugs into any PC. Gemalto, based in Amsterdam, is already a major provider of smart cards to government and the enterprise, but the company hopes that its new system, called the Network Identity Manager, will be easy enough to use that it will appeal to consumers. The USB devices will not require any specialized software and will work with standard browsers and use the same Transport Layer Security (TLS) mechanisms already used by Web sites. Network Identity Manager will also use a "token management system" that will sort out which credentials need to be supplied to different Web sites, and will support Verisign's VIP Network Identity federation framework, according to Gemalto's Web site. Because the user has to have the smart card device plugged into the PC before logging onto an online bank or e-commerce site, the device willÂ thwart many common identity theft tacticsÂ including phishing or keylogging, according to Amol Deshmukh, a marketing manager with Gemalto. "It can create a much stronger link with whatever back-end you're trying to connect with," he said. Gemalto may face a tough sell, according to Avivah Litan, a GartnerÂ analyst. While, products like the Network Identity Manager will provide protection from many types of attacks, but so far U.S. banks have not been clamoring for this kind of USB device, she said. Still, as phishing losses continue to rise, U.S. financial institutions have been offering their customersÂ more secure ways to log onÂ to their Web portals. In 2005 ETrade Financial began giving customers RSA Security's SecurID tokens, which generate a random numerical identification number that users must enter in order to log onto the ETrade network. EBay's PayPal plans to introduce a similar system to its customers in the coming months. But the USB device vendors said that consumers will not be willing to lug around too many of these devices. "It seems very complicated," said Ron LaPedis, a product manager with Sandisk. "Users don't want a plethora of tokens." Like Gemalto, Sandisk will be promoting USB products that can be used to simplify key management at next week's show, but the Sandisk products will have more of an enterprise focus. "We're going to be introducing a product that can centrally manage and secure Sandisk USB flash drives and enable secure remote access to the enterprise," LaPedis said. Sandisk already sells a USB smart card product called the mToken, but unlike Gemalto's Network Identity Manager, the Sandisk device uses flash memory to store applications on the USB device. Sandisk acquired the mToken technology as part of its November purchase of Msystems and the RSA Conference will give the flash memory maker its first opportunity to discuss what it plans to do following the $1.5 billion acquisition. Â
31443
(InfoWorld) - It may be Valentine's Day but there are no love letters being exchanged between duelling electronic document formats, ODF (OpenDocument Format) and Open XML. Instead, Microsoft, the backer of Open XML, took a public swing at ODF supporter IBM. Microsoft posted an open letter on its Web site Wednesday titled "Interoperability, Choice, and Open XML," signed by two of its general managers -- Tom Robertson, who handles interoperability and standards, and Jean Paoli, responsible for interoperability and XML architecture. In the letter, Microsoft claimed that IBM is attempting to slow down the approval process by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to recognize Open XML as an international standard. IBM declined to comment publicly on the letter, but a spokesman said the company had previously addressed many of the issues raised by Microsoft. In May, ISO approved ODF as an international standard and is currently considering whether to award the same recognition to Open XML. ODF has the backing of such companiesÂ as IBM, Google, Novell, Sun, and open-source players. Open XML is the default file format for Microsoft's Office 2007 desktop applications suite. What has yet to become clear is which document format users will favor -- ODF or Open XML -- or whether they'd adopt a mix of the two. Some vendors, such as Corel, have already announced they're adopting a neutral approach and will support both formats in their software. IT users and governments around the world are expressing interest in open-standard document formats to help ensure continued access to archived information and also free them from having to use Microsoft's Office software. In December, standards body ECMA International voted 20 to 1 to approve Open XML as a global standard and submitted the format to ISO for its approval. The dissenting vote came from IBM, according to Microsoft. "IBM has declared victory in blocking Open XML," the Microsoft letter alleges, claiming that IBM is holding up the standards process in a "blatant attempt" to limit choice in the marketplace designed to favor the vendor's Lotus Notes groupware, which doesn't support Open XML. Microsoft and IBM are the two leading desktop collaboration software vendors with IBM's Notes pitted against Microsoft's Outlook and Exchange software. Microsoft is fearful that ODF may become the de facto electronic document format by default simply because it was first to achieve ISO recognition as an international standard, the letter stated. "In XML-based file formats, which can easily interoperate through translators and be implemented side by side in productivity software, this exclusivity makes no sense -- except to those who lack confidence in their ability to compete in the marketplace on the technical merits of their alternative standard," the letter continued. "This campaign to limit choice and force their single standard on consumers should be resisted." The timing of the release of Microsoft's letter is interesting given that it comes a day after the Oasis standards body announced its approval of a new version of the ODF standard, OpenDocument 1.1. The changes in ODF 1.1 are designed to address concerns voiced by advocacy groups that the previous release didn't meet the needs of people with disabilities. The level of accessibility support provided in ODF 1.1 is now on a par or exceeds that available in other file formats. Â
20965
Yahoo may soon launch OpenID, a Web standard that relieves people of the need to remember multiple passwords to log into different Web sites.
459643
(InfoWorld) - Microsoft will participate in a meeting later this month with vendors and organizations that are backing several different identity management systems, an indication thatÂ cooperation between the software giant and its peersÂ is improving. The meeting, part of an initiative called the Concordia Project, strives to improve interoperability between Microsoft's CardSpace and OpenID, two identity management systems, and protocols for identity management supported by an industry trade group, the Liberty Alliance, said Roger Sullivan, president of its management board. Vendors will hear from companies such as General Motors, Boeing, and AOL about how they're trying to integrate various identity management systems into their operations, Sullivan said. "Many of these protocols today are very geek-centric," said Sullivan, who is also vice president of Oracle's identity management section. "They're not very people-friendy." A major issue is how vendors can use different authentication mechanisms in their operations. For example, a financial planning Web site could allow users to forecast how much their retirement fund may be worth in 30 years. Eventually, the user may want to buy a service from the financial planner and migrate that same data to an environment that uses stronger authentication, Sullivan said. This means there would need to be more interoperability between the protocols used by OpenID, CardSpace, and Liberty-enabled applications. "I would more expect that we will have nuanced changes or extensions to existing protocols to enable the interoperability," Sullivan said. The Concordia Project, set up by the Liberty Alliance, hopes to release its first set of open standards by the end of the year, Sullivan said Microsoft said in February at the RSA Conference it wouldÂ integrate CardSpace and OpenID, an open-source standard for logging into Web sites. The work would help mitigate potential security risks, such as so-called "man-in-the-middle" attacks, where a hacker can intercept identity information as it's in transit to a Web site, officials said. NovellÂ is also working with Microsoft on InfoCard Selector, a so-called "digital wallet" for handling identity information. Microsoft's commitment to the Concordia project shows it has realized the importance of interoperability, said Graham Titterington, principal analyst at Ovum. "Microsoft has already come a long way in terms of 12 months ago," Titterington said. "It's not a surprising development as a year ago I think it would have been." The meeting will take place on June 26 at Catalyst 2007, an enterprise IT conference in San Francisco. Â
755804
Rather than stacking the vote, Microsoft simply wanted to allow interested organizations to participate in the Open XML standardization process, unlike other rival efforts, a company executive said Wednesday.Critics and supporters of the competing ODF (Open Document Format) have accused Microsoft of stacking votes, particularly a preliminary vote late last year in the International Organization for Standardization regarding standardization of the Open XML format.&quot;We have a very different perspective&quot; on how that process occurred, said Tom Robertson, general manager of Microsoft&#39;s corporate interoperability and standards group, speaking to a group of journalists from around the world in Kirkland, Wash. &quot;There was an increase in participation both from ODF proponents trying to stop this and people who wanted to see it to promote choice,&quot; he said. That meant that more than the &quot;old guard&quot; -- companies such as IBM that typically participate in such processes -- became involved, he said.Microsoft wanted to involve anyone who has a stake in interoperability, including governments, technology companies, academics, and enterprises, he said. &quot;This cannot be a closed-door process,&quot; he said. &quot;Should those who are impacted by this decision have a seat at the table? Absolutely. Should it be restricted to Open XML advocates? No, it shouldn&#39;t be.&quot;Microsoft also defended&#160;its choice of Ecma to initially standardize the technology, rather than another standards body. &quot;It is one of the leaders in standardization in the IT space for decades,&quot; Robertson said.All but one member -- IBM -- of the Ecma general assembly voted to adopt the standard. The general assembly also voted to pass it on to ISO, a worldwide standardization body, for ratification.Despite that progress, critics wonder why Microsoft built the technology in the first place when there was&#160;already an existing open file format, ODF.&quot;It starts with our customers,&quot; Robertson said. &quot;Many say that ODF doesn&#39;t meet their needs.&quot;As an example, the ODF group initially decided not to support spreadsheet formulas, said Gray Knowlton, group product manager for Microsoft Office. &quot;When we look at customers of Excel, we can&#39;t give them a standard that doesn&#39;t recognize spreadsheet formulas,&quot; he said. However, he also noted that ODF later reversed that decision to support spreadsheet formulas.Microsoft is hopeful that Open XML will pass an upcoming ISO vote, but if it doesn&#39;t, it won&#39;t be the end of Open XML, the executives said. &quot;It&#39;s already an open standard and already available to the community,&quot; said Robertson. &quot;The issue here in the ratification is: Does the global community want a voice in the evolution of Open XML going forward.&quot;Also, if individual governments mandate the use of ODF instead of Open XML, Microsoft would adapt, Knowlton said. The company would then implement the missing functionality that ODF doesn&#39;t support. However, those extensions would be custom-designed and outside of the standard, which is counter to the idea of an open document standard, Knowlton said. &quot;Disastrous? No. But definitely not preferable,&quot; he said.
29051
Biometric and smart-card technology will replace passwords to verify ID, Microsoft head Bill Gates says. Again.
610185
Microsoft&#39;s earlier attempts at a specification for Sender ID, the technology which is used for verifying the authenticity of e-mail with Internet Protocol records