The future of identity

Abstract

Businesses are moving rapidly from centralized systems behind corporate firewalls to Software- as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors spread across the globe. Many of these services help reduce costs, guarantee better availability, reliability, and offer advanced cyber threat prevention and detection so attackers have moved to a new attack surface: identity. it is argued that the situation will get worse before it gets better. Our digital identity is increasingly being used for critical aspects of our lives, including money, travel, healthcare, and education. Past data breaches have yet to be fully exploited by identity thieves who will wreak havoc on this delicate system. As a result, online accounts will increasingly require identity proofing and verification (IDP&V) before issuance of credentials. The identity attack surface is the primary threat to our distributed services infrastructure. Online identity and access management systems require careful configuration, monitoring, and continual management. Small mistakes such as use of default keys or failure to use proper encryption and signatures in federation agreements can have devastating impacts. But our IAM systems allow for the fine-grain integrity and nonrepudiation requirements needed for our future online identities.