Sun rolls out Identity Auditor

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/01/24/04NNsunid_1.html?source=NLC-SEC2005-01-24>

InfoWorld



Sun rolls out Identity Auditor
Software applies identity management for repeatable compliance

By  Cathleen Moore
January 24, 2005


Sun Microsystems (Profile, Products, Articles) this week introduced
identity audit and compliance software designed to give IT departments
visibility into employee identity and system-access activities.


The Sun Java System Identity Auditor can help with the difficult and
expensive regulatory compliance requirements of reporting on systems and
applications, proving internal controls, and giving auditors data on
historical access privileges.

 "Identity - which [covers] who has access to what, who did what, and when
- is essential to compliance," said Sara Gates, vice president of identify
management at Sun. "The problem Identity Auditor addresses is automating
compliance processes companies suffer through."

 Having visibility into identity and access-related activities is a key
part of compliance for certain regulations, most notably Sarbanes-Oxley,
said Jonathan Penn, principal analyst of identity and security at Forrester
Research.

 "It may be that only certain systems or data are important to protect
under those regulations. But it is important to have insight into who has
access to what and why that access has been granted," Penn said.

 Sun's Identity Auditor makes it easier to implement controls through
functionality focused on access-exclusion policies as well as the workflow
dealing with conflicts that may arise between users' access rights and
policy, Penn said.


-- 
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
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