Novell Working on Cross-Platform ID Management

March 28, 2007: Novell is reportedly developing an open source version of Microsoft’s InfoCard identity management software that allows multiple levels of security and runs across several platforms.

Microsoft deployed its InfoCard technology in Windows Vista under the name CardSpace, however, its solution only allows for one identity. According to networkworld.com, Novell’s implementation functions as a “digital wallet” that stores several different forms of user login and authentication information, enabling easy access to various web sites and network locations.

InfoCard is unique as it uses a third party “identity provider”, so if a sale is being made over the internet for example, the provider first verifies the user’s identity before sending a secure token to the website where the transaction is taking place. This stops any credit information changing hands, and eliminates risk involved in local storage of sensitive information at both ends.

“The big picture here is the availability of a viable cross-platform identity selector,” Dale Olds, a distinguished engineer with Novell told networkworld.com. “For the first time we have a functionally equivalent system to Microsoft’s CardSpace that runs on Linux and Mac.”

Novell is calling its version of the software the InfoCard Selector, and plans to make it available for both Linux and Mac operating systems. It eventually expects to sell the software, however, no timeframe has been released for its development.

The development is another example of Novell’s new buddy relationship with Microsoft, and one that Microsoft is keen to promote in order to ensure widespread adoption of its InfoCard technology.

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