Identity Management Forum

Objective of Meeting

With 18 member organizations registered to attend this IMF meeting in Lisbon, only four of whom had attended previous Security Forum meetings, the agenda was arranged to provide an appropriate introduction in which we put into context the current activities and projects in the Forum, tracing our past achievements and evolution,  thereby providing an adequate platform for new attendees to contribute effectively to progressing current projects, which include:

• Framework for Identity Management (joint with INCITS & ISO JTC1 SC27)
• Architectures for Identity Management
• IdM Design Patterns
• Development of the Identity Management Catalog - input to catalog database, and development of web-based display of information entries from the database
• Next steps after completing the Common Core Identifiers deliverables
• Best Practice Guide for Identity & Access Management

Summary

In the event, few of the registered new representatives attended the meeting. Accordingly, those present revised the agenda to address the direct interests of the members attending the meeting.

Guide to IdM Architectures

Members reviewed the latest feedback on this document, and arrived at a final draft which they approved as satisfactory for formal review by all Forum members, with a view to recommending its publication.

Common Core Identifiers

This project is a partnership activity between the Network Applications Consortium (NAC), the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), and The Open Group Identity Management Forum (IMF). The CCI Task Group has approved the CCI Business Scenario for publication, and is finalizing a Press Release for its launch.  The Framework document is also completed, as is the Matrix which presents the list of candidate identifiers, the comparative evaluation of them, and the analysis and conclusions that resulted.

These will be published soon, at which time the CCI project will close, having completed its objectives and decided not to continue with follow-on work. Instead we aim to pass the deliverables to ISO JTC1 SC27, with whom we have Category C Liaison status, for them to exploit in their standards work on identifiers.

IdM Design Patterns

The planned final review of updated definitions for our 2nd & 3rd party identity patterns was deferred due to unavailability of the updates for these definitions, which had proved to involve greater complexity and impact on other material in the definitions than had hitherto been realized. 

Likewise, progress has been delayed on developing a draft definition for an authenticator pattern, so this was also deferred. Those interested in an authenticator design pattern may like to review the definition for an authenticator pattern contributed by Ed Fernandez which is published in Marcus Schumacher's compendium of design patterns. While this definition is not incorrect, it does not in the view of the Security Forum's experts explain adequately the key security features which we would consider essential to highlight in our definition.

IdM Standards Framework (joint with INCITS & ISO JTC1 SC27)

Due to a communications problem with our expert contributor in the USA, we were unable to proceed with the detailed review of the latest draft of this document. We will progress this in the weeks following this meeting.

Best Practice Guide for Identity & Access Management

Due to a communications problem with our expert contributor in the USA, we were unable to proceed with the evaluation and detailed review of the latest draft of this document. We will progress this in the weeks following this meeting.

Outputs

Revised objectives set at the start of the meeting were only partially achieved.

Next Steps

The actions list from this meeting will define progress towards achieving the meeting outputs leading up to the next Identity Management Forum meeting at the San Diego conference (January 2007).

Links

None.