Concerns have been raised at the European e-Identity Conference 2009 about the growth in Web 2.0, the recession and the resulting expanded opportunities for breaches in privacy
Following the European e-Identity Conference 2009, eema, the European association for e-identity and security, has warned that the impact of the recession and the growth of Web 2.0 on privacy would create more opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit e-identities. London’s Cardinal Place saw around 200 IT and business professionals from around the world attend eema’s 22nd annual conference, which was organised in collaboration with OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), and the BCS (British Computer Society), Privacy was the issue of the moment, with keynote speakers at the opening plenary all identifying it as the single most important aspect of e-identity, even more so with the current economic climate. Chief Architect of Identity in the Identity and Security Division at Microsoft, Kim Cameron, says, “There is concern that the combination of Web 2.0, cloud computing, social networking and the recession threatens to erode privacy. One aspect of this could be increased opportunity for cybercriminals to take over and exploit identities. Industry organisations – including those that are market competitors – must collaborate to reduce these risks.” One of the key technology trends emerging from the conference was ‘claims-based identity’, a way of using statements instead of unique numeric identifiers, to ensure only the information (or attributes) required to identify a person is revealed. Only enough provable and true information is released to achieve a specific goal. For example, in a doctor’s surgery, a name, address and date of birth would typically be enough to identify a patient’s medical records. Executive Director of eema, Roger Dean comments, “The collaboration between eema and OASIS aided in learning about and anticipating new threats to privacy and identity from a business and technology perspective. This has been one of our most successful eema annual conferences.” eema’s European e-Identity Conference takes place every year, with the aim to bring together technology experts and business professionals to discuss the ongoing concerns, solutions and related issues surrounding electronic identities; for business, citizen and government alike. Executive Collaboration Evangelist and Certified IT Specialist at IBM Lotus Software, Stuart J. McRae adds, 'The most invigorating eema conference I have been to for quite a while. A very good atmosphere. Super venue. Thought provoking sessions and great networking.” The location and information for eema’s 23rd Annual Conference, the European e-Identity Conference 2010, will be announced soon.
|
