access control
There are 6 entries for the tag access control
Mobile users. cloud computing . End-runs around IT security by developers. The trend has always existed, it’s just speeding up now. IT needs to take back control – and fast. But first IT needs the tools with which to do that…
Let’s ignore the horrible acting by Kevin Costner in “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” (I personally prefer Russell Crowe in the 2010 version but that’s me and unfortunately they cover two different periods of Robin Hood’s legendary life so we’re stuck with the lesser version) and let’s just focus on a couple key lines/concepts that are relevant to the...
It used to be that “mobile” access implied “remote” access. That’s no longer true. As the variety of clients continue to expand along with the venues from which we users can access corporate resources the ability to intelligently enforce access-control policies also increases in strategic importance.
Every time we add a new access method in the enterprise we go through a period in which we expend a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how to control that access.
The consumerization of IT, for example, in which consumer-grade devices (gadgets) have been slowly but surely permeating every facet...
Extending identity management into the cloud
The focus of several questions I was asked at Interop involved identity management and application access in a cloud computing environment. This makes sense; not all applications that will be deployed in a public cloud environment are going to be “customer” or “market” focused. Some will certainly be departmental or business unit applications designed to be used by employees and thus require a certain amount of access control and integration with existing identity management stores, like Active Directory.
Interestingly F5 isn’t the only one...
Everyone has likely seen the optical illusion of the vase in which, depending on your focus, you either see a vase or two faces. This particular optical illusion is probably the best allegorical image for IT and in particular cloud computing I can imagine. Depending on your focus within IT you’re either focused on – to borrow some terminology from SOA – design-time or run-time management of the virtualized systems and infrastructure that make up your data center. That focus determines what particular aspect of management you view as most critical, and unfortunately makes it...
The advent of virtualization brought about awareness of the need to decouple applications from IP addresses. The same holds true on the client side – perhaps even more so than in the data center. I could quote The Prisoner, but that would be so cliché, wouldn’t it? Instead, let me ask a question: just which IP address am I? Am I the one associated with the gateway that proxies for my mobile phone web access? Or am I the one that’s currently assigned to my laptop – the one that will change tomorrow because today I am...
Why would miscreants bother with other routes when they can go straight to the source? People concerned with security of the cloud are generally worried about illegitimate access of the applications and data they may deploy in the cloud. That’s a valid concern given the needs of certain vertical industries to comply with privacy-focused regulations like HIPAA and PCI DSS. It’s an extremely valid concern given research and studies showing just how vulnerable most web sites and applications are. Hint: it’s more than you probably think it is, and it’s likely your application is vulnerable...
