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GCN Home > 09/26/05 issue

Forgot a password? Fix it yourself

By Doug Beizer, PostNewsweek Tech Media

Self-service identity management platform reduces help desk calls

With about 125 of its 600 employees spread acrross different time zones in the United States, computer password problems and lockouts were a common occurrences for the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

“We don’t run a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week help desk; we’re open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time,” said Mike Borland, assistant CIO of infrastructure for the bureau, also known as TTB. “If you missed that window, you were basically out of luck until the next day if you locked yourself out of the network.”

To address this problem, bureau officials signed a contract with Avatier Corp. of San Ramon, Calif., for its suite of identity and access management tools.

The bureau started off with an Avatier Identity Management Server (AIMS) component called Password Station. Essentially, the software allows for self-service password management, said Nelson Cicchitto, Avatier chief executive officer.

Automatic access

“If a person forgets her password, instead of calling the help desk to have it reset by a human, she can reset it herself automatically and securely,” he said.

The tool is accessed via a Web browser and relies on a series of questions to verify users’ identities when resetting their passwords.

When users register, they are asked several questions: What’s your favorite food? What’s the name of your favorite grade school teacher? Their answers are used for verification.

Password Station can reset and synchronize passwords across multiple applications and platforms. For example, it integrates with an AS400 mainframe system as well as Oracle and PeopleSoft applications.

The Avatier software resides on a Web server, and a Web client is installed on each client PC, said Kamran Khayami, a TTB network engineer who helped in the installation and integration of the tool.

Additional tools

Four other AIMS tools focus on other aspects of password administration:
  • Password Bouncer enforces password policy throughout an organization, preventing users from selecting easily cracked passwords, such as their kids’ names.
  • Account Terminator lets IT staff in one action disable or delete employee accounts across multiple platforms by using an administrative Web browser that also provides a complete audit trail.
  • Account Creator lets an IT administrator create access accounts across multiple platforms and applications. It also enforces unique naming and password conventions and automates mailbox creation.
  • Account Requester, which is still in development, would let a user request access to, for example, data from the organization’s accounting department. The tool goes out and finds the manager of that department, and requires approval from that person before granting access.
“It can also enable workflow processes such as ordering business cards or badges,” Cicchitto said of Account Requester.

More news on related topics: IT Security, Authentication / Identity Management, Identity Management



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