MUMBAI, INDIA: A host of identity management solutions has come up, as companies grapple with Internet security related issues.

Such has been the menacing effects of security that countless steps were taken to negate it. In December 2007, the National Institute of e-Forensics (NIEF) was constituted.

Dr. Sachin Pandey, CEO of NIEF had earlier said, “With the IT revolution, today we are more vulnerable to cyber crimes that threaten the security of the government as well as organizational data. With the growing market of PDAs and mobiles, related crimes in this sector have also witnessed an increase. Computer misuse has become so common that detection and effective monitoring should be a cause of concern for everyone in the IT industry.”

E-threats have evolved significantly during the previous one decade. Amateur hackers have become organized, website defacement have taken the form of IP (Internet Protocol) theft, viruses have taken the shape of identity theft and what was infrequent attacks have now become constant threats. Analysts are worried about the ad-hoc approach adopted by many companies.

Ernst & Young LLP states that 70 per cent of reported IT deficiencies are directly related to ineffective identification and access management practices.

A Gartner report finds companies that adopt ad-hoc approach rather than a proactive and holistic compliance programs will spend 10 times more. Also, large firms spent 70,000 additional man-hours on SOX compliance, according to Deloitte.

While training comes in handy in countering the menace, there are corporations like Oracle, which have come up with Oracle Identity Management that facilitates its partners and customers to reduce security threats across diverse IT environments while helping address governance, risk and compliance needs.

Companies such as Wipro, Infosys and MphasiS have opted for these systems to strengthen their security investments, increase business efficiency and facilitate regulatory compliance with Oracle Identity Management.

Satinder Grover, vice-president, Technology Sales, Oracle India, stresses the importance of utilizing these systems: “Oracle, the name that we have for our brand actually comes from the first project that we did for CIA in the US and the subsequent two projects that we did were for the Department of Defense in the US; so security is pretty much embedded in our DNA.”

He adds: “The whole concept of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is changing, and with the systems becoming more open, consumerization of electronics is making excessive information lot more embedded in our daily lives and it is giving us more security concerns. It has brought about a lot of ease; it has raised questions related to security. Security is critical and since we are in the enterprise architecture space now, it is upto us to manage a whole lot of identities. We have customers who have a host of applications which are being accessed by their clients, employees, etc. there is also a huge turnover in companies such as BPO providing assistance to customers in the US, UK, etc. So how do you manage identity in such a scenario, which is where our role is!”

Ancillary benefits to identity management infrastructure are immense. On one hand, the deployment time is quicker; security is considerably augmented as users aren’t trying to remember dozens of passwords and leaving their passwords on pieces of paper taped to their monitors; help desk costs drop dramatically, as users can reset their own passwords; seamless business models can be adopted, helping lower costs and improve time to market.

The cost of ownership can be lowered through more seamlessly integrated access and authorizations; lower application development cost is enabled through a leveraged Service-Oriented Architecture approach to security, identity management, and access controls and also user, partner and customer experience is improved through single sign-on.

Grover adds, “Early adopters of identity management solutions in India have been telecom, IT-enabled services, business process outsourcing, retail and distribution, financial services and manufacturing companies.”

Roman Tuma, regional sales director, ASEAN, North Asia, India, Oracle Corporation, Asia Pacific Division, shares his views. “With more applications exposed to partners, customers and remote users, the real challenge is in helping ensure that individuals have appropriate access to the right resources at the right time while addressing privacy, accountability and regulatory compliance requirements. An increasing number of companies are turning to Oracle Identity Management to resolve this quandary.”

While the battle to ward off threats in the e-world heats up, solutions from companies such as Oracle and institutions such as NIEF should keep the users armed to achieve what certainly looks like a task ahead!

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