Identity Management – What you Need to Know

Identity management (IdM) in essence refers to the management or administration of individual identities within a system, such as a company or network.

Within the corporate world, ID management refers more specifically to providing IT managers with a centralised administrative system (Identity Management System – IdMS) where company users and permission restrictions to applications such as ERP, CRM, e-mail client etc etc can be grouped together and managed collectively. The principle objective behind IdM is to improve security and protection for sensitive company data and systems, whilst simultaneously improving productivity as well as reducing costs, downtime and repetitive time consuming tasks. [1]

Example Set Up

What makes Identity Management Systems such as Univention Corporate Server (UCS) so useful is that they can be integrated into a whole host of systems including for example corporate phone systems like pascom’s mobydick VoIP Communications Solution as illustrated by the following video.

Zarafa integration update introduces module for managing Zarafa contacts

Univention App-CenterThe latest update for the Zarafa app in the Univention App Center – to version 7.1.12 – is significant not just for Zarafa itself but also for UCS integration: the update brings you up to version 2 of the Zarafa Web app and allows the app to be installed on a UCS member server. One significant improvement is a dedicated module in the UCS management system for managing Zarafa contacts and Zarafa shared stores.

Make money with Open Source software

Even today, the general consensus still stubbornly persists that Open Source software is developed by ponytailed computer geeks as a hobby in the middle of the night. It’s admittedly a very romantic notion, but one which only reflects the reality to a certain extent.

The Linux Foundation recently published a very interesting document on who actually contributes to the Linux kernel. Since 2005, some 11,800 individual developers from around 1,200 different companies have contributed to the Linux kernel. The fact that recently at least 88.2% of the improvements came from people who are also paid for this work – a growing trend – is proof that more and more IT professionals are also working on Linux.

Our daily companions: Malware, SPAM and Phishing – free yourself!

Analyse, IKARUS Security Software GmbH
Source: Analyse, IKARUS Security Software GmbH

The threat level is increasing! In 2014 alone, approximately 131,000 new types of malware were discovered daily – an increase of 250% when compared to the year before. This trend is continuing unabated: 9 million samples have already been discovered in the first quarter of 2015. It is not just the quantities that are rising at a staggering rate. The methods and types of malware are becoming increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect.

For example, the current trend is moving away from malware that is distributed in the form of email attachments (e.g. trojans) towards the distribution of links to websites that are infected with malware. This makes it more difficult to detect the source, since it is no longer directly connected to the user’s email. The malware is downloaded when a link is clicked. A hacker may infiltrate a trustworthy site with the goal of planting malware on it. To the user, it is difficult to recognize a link to a trusted site as a threat. Further, the developer of the malware can put another version online at any time as soon as the previous version is detected by antivirus software.

What app developers tell us: “Show me how to start!”

Univention App-CenterSince May 2014, four new apps (Kaspersky Mail Server Security, Mandriva Pulse, Dokuwiki and WordPress) have been released and 12 apps have received updates from their vendors. I’m delighted about those numbers. But it definitely was some work on either side: phone calls, e-mails, technical discussions in the Univention forum and feedback during the approval process.

Something had to be done to optimize the whole process and reduce the communication efforts. But what measures would be suitable and would they really help? For this reason, I contacted some of the app developers directly, some with App Center experience and those who have just made their first app available. Where did they have difficulties during the whole app creation process and what would help them? At this point, I’d like to thank the app developers for their open feedback.