RE: [security-services] Points to Make to the Press About the Int erop(and SAML generally )

Title: Points to Make to the Press About the Interop (and SAML generally)

Hal,

 

somewhere we 
need to work in the narrative we have used in the interOp document and 
demonstration. 

Most press 
people actually have only a modest idea what the concept of federation actually 
means in 

a practical 
way. I will add some slides to the current presentation so as 
to illustrate the concept in some detail.

 

In addition, 
I think that some of these details also need to be added to this document, which 
I presume will actually

be handed out 
to the press. Is that correct? We have earlier discussed on the list 
the need for a "one page" document

which will be 
handed out to the press and the participants before/after the demo. I assume 
your outline is a first

step in that 
direction.

 

- 
prateek

  
-----Original Message-----
From: Hal Lockhart 
  [mailto:]
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 
  6:15 PM
To: 
Cc: 
  ''; 'James Kobielus'
Subject: 
  [security-services] Points to Make to the Press About the Interop (and SAML 
  generally )

  
Here is my first cut. These are in no particular order. I 
  suspect different reporters will find different ones to be more 
  "newsworthy".

  
SAML Works 

  
In spite of the fact that SAML is a brand new specification 
  which has never been implemented before and for which there is currently no 
  reference implementation, the 12 participating vendors will able to fully 
  interoperate after only a few days of testing. This is due in large part to 
  the depth of technical expertise in Authorization and experience with open 
  standards represented by the Security Services TC.

  
SAML is Useful 

  
The distributed, multi-vendor, multi-portal configuration 
  being demonstrated solves a real-world problem that exists today. Prior to 
  SAML, Portals provided for public use on the Internet, by Government, Industy 
  Consortia or by large enterprises for internal or external use were required 
  to select a single technology provider. Now organizations participating in a 
  Portal or other Web SSO environment can freely choose among SAML-compliant 
  products.

  
SAML Enables Federated Identity 

  
The SAML Domain model and specifications permit Authentication 
  and Identity information to be federated among multiple organizations and 
  servers. This means that Access Control decisions can be be based on a rich 
  set of information, including multiple Authentication methods, and a variety 
  of user attributes, including Groups, Roles, Permissions, Authorization Levels 
  and others. However, there is no need to assemble this information into a 
  single repository in order to access it. This means: 1) enhanced user Privacy, 
  because the information is held at its point of orgin and only shared as 
  needed and under the control of the user 2) greater accuracy, becuase the 
  information is held by the organization responsible for updating it and 3) 
  more rapid deployment, because applications and Authorities can be put online 
  as needed.

  
Fine Grained Authorization is Key 

  
The future of secure applications depends on fine grained 
  Authorization services, such as those enabled by SAML. As the boundaries 
  between public and private networks blur and protocols such as those used for 
  Web Services proliferate, coarse grained access control solutions like 
  firewalls become less and less effective. Although much attention has been 
  paid to PKI, smartcards, biometrics and other Authentication technologies, 
  they represent only one step in the process of protecting assets and enabling 
  Electronic Commerce.

  
SAML Serves Multiple Needs 

  
The SAML Interoperability Demonstration illustrates how SAML 
  can be applied to the real-world problem of mult-vendor Web SSO. But this is 
  not the end of the story. SAML has the flexibility to be applied to a wide 
  range of Authorization interoperability problems in both existing and future 
  environments. The SSTC is currently developing a Profile for the use of SAML 
  in conjunction with Web Services which is consistent with the WS-Security 
  document, recently published by IBM, Microsoft and Verisign. SAML is being 
  applied to authorization problems in higher education and on the Public 
  Internet. While SAML is based on XML Schema, it is equally suitable for use in 
  legacy environments. SAML is extensible, but it also provides bindings and 
  profiles specified in sufficient detail for interopertability. It is expected 
  that a variety of SAML Profiles will be defined for use in both open and 
  closed environments.

  
Hal