Proving you are who you say you are, is not only a riddle but, in cyberspace, one of the cornerstones of a particular branch of cybersecurity known as Identity Management.
It’s also one of the things waiting to be checked off President Barack Obama’s Cyberspace Policy Review’s list of action items.
This week, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and the White House’s cybersecurity czar Howard Schmidt are discussing the future of trusted online identities as well as a new administration strategy to deal with authenticating cyber identities at a forum at Stanford University.
Locke and Schmidt will discuss the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, the creation of which is mandated as a short-term goal by the cyber review.
The NSTIC will be unveiled in further detail later this winter, according to The Hill’s technology blog Hillicon Valley, but the Obama administration officials are expected to provide more details about the program this week.
One of NSTIC’s provisions includes the creation of a secure online environment, an Identity Ecosystem, which aims to provide a secure zone for Internet users and organizations to conduct online transactions
The idea is to build trust for the identities of users as well as the cyber infrastructure, according to TechAmerica, one of the sponsors of the Friday forum.
At the event, a panel of private-sector CEOs will discuss the current state of trusted identities as well as future real-world applications, according to TechAmerica.
“Securing the Internet and building trust online is the responsibility of not just the government, but of industry and the end-user as-well,†TechAmerica says on its website.
Other sponsors include TechNet, the Churchill Club, Stanford University and the TRUST Center. The event is Jan. 7 at 11 a.m.
