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Oracle Pushing Identity Governance Framework
Identity Governance Framework proposed by Oracle Corp. will help protect consumer information online.
Identity protection applications such as Microsoft's CardSpace help people manage the personal information they submit over the Web and are making it easier for consumers to safeguard their identities online. But it's anybody's guess how well-protected sensitive information such as passwords and social security numbers are once they arrive in enterprise back-end systems, according to Amit Jasuja, vice president of development for security and identity management at Oracle Corp.
The database giant aims to change that with a new open standards initiative called the Identity Governance Framework (IGF), which would require all application queries accessing personal information to pass through a new layer. Jasuja says this gatekeeper would allow companies to adjust their identity protection policies by fine-tuning IGF policies.
"Having this piece in the middle that can manage it without me having to constantly update my applications -- that helps me cut costs and frees me to do other, more valuable things," Jasuja says.
Oracle's surveys of its customers indicate most would need days of sifting through code to say exactly where all personal information is stored and precisely how it can be used by apps.
Oracle has submitted IGF royalty-free to the Liberty Alliance Project, an international Internet security consortium.