ActivIdentity

Implementing strong authentication mechanisms was inhibited in many organizations due to the fact that logistic and management costs appeared relatively high in contrast to the added value for some use cases. Right now, it is not only about authenticating employees, but about customers, suppliers and other partners as well. Interestingly, solving the authentication issues becomes easier while or because the environment is changing.

The fact that there couldn't be one single technical mechanism for authentication which works for everyone the same way has lead to an evolution where authentication concepts become flexible by nature. That allows to choose from different technical mechanism, but integrated into one consistent appraoch from the management perspective.
With other words: It isn't about one authentication mechanism anymore - it is about one authentication strategy and sort of an "authentication middleware" which allows to flexibly map use case, the participating parties, and the specific security needs to technical mechanisms. It is as well about allowing to choose between different technologies, to do step-up authentication and to use other concepts.

Martin Kuppinger of KuppingerCole will discuss the trends around authentication strategies, the breadth of options available today, and the future evolution towards a centralized layer for context-based authentication and authorization - for all types of users and for all types of services and use cases. Dirk Losse of ActivIdentity will then describe some Best Practices and talk about his experiences with authentication projects.