Since a few years, several industry luminaries are trying to define a better way to handle Identity in the Enterprise and on the Internet. What came out of extensive discussions within the industry was the identity metasystem. Microsoft has just released "Geneva", the first version of its implementation of the identity metasystem.
So what's behind the identity metasystem and "Geneva"? There are obvious benefits to adopting it! After all, it has been designed to solve many safety issues associated with electronic identity, such as preventing identity theft by countering the threats of phishing and pharming attacks. But that's not all. For today's businesses, as collaboration becomes increasingly mainstream, the identity metasystem is the technical roadmap to solve the interoperability challenges that arise when identities need to be extended past the traditional security boundaries of departments and organizations. And for users, the identity metasystem solves many current privacy concerns. It lets users take back control over their identity information through user centric identity - to keep up with the fast pace of technology in today's Internet society and make it a safer place.
