Shibboleth Project to Develop Interoperability with Microsoft's Windows CardSpace

    ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Internet2, the foremost U.S.
advanced networking consortium, today announced its plans to develop new
extensions to Shibboleth to support Microsoft's Windows CardSpace(TM) and
other compatible identity selectors.

    Adding information card support to Shibboleth, the most widely-deployed
federated authentication architecture, would enable interoperability with
Windows CardSpace which provides critical support for secure user-centric
authentication and identity information exchange for web-based
applications. By enabling this interoperability, Microsoft and Internet2
aim to help users exchange personal identity information more safely and
easily. In doing so, institutions can more effectively leverage their
existing and future investments in their identity management solutions and
build a closer, safer relationship with their users.

    "As more and more companies and organizations make information
materials and resources accessible online, the need for secure access
solutions has become critical. We see information card technology like
Microsoft's Windows CardSpace as a very important step forward in creating
a ubiquitous Internet identity layer, which is a key goal of the Shibboleth
project as well," said RL "Bob" Morgan, security architect at the
University of Washington and co- manager of the Shibboleth Project. "We
appreciate Microsoft's leadership in helping to create an open environment
for Information Card development and deployment, and are grateful for
Microsoft support of Windows CardSpace work in Shibboleth."

    Shibboleth is a standards-based, open source middleware architecture
providing both intra-domain and inter-domain single-sign on (SSO)
capability. Used by over 20 million users worldwide within the research and
higher education community, Shibboleth implements the OASIS Security
Assertion Markup Language (SAML) standard specification, and is currently
interoperable with Microsoft's Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS).

    Both Shibboleth and Windows CardSpace provide the underlying mechanisms
for institutions and individuals to share resources across organizational
boundaries and to make informed authorization decisions for the access of
protected online resources. This federated authentication model implemented
by both Internet2 and Microsoft has proven to provide online resource
providers and institutions with a solid platform for exchanging information
in a highly secure and privacy-preserving manner. Once development is
complete, sites using Windows CardSpace will have the ability to
participate in the growing number of Shibboleth-based federations
worldwide.

    "The Internet2 Shibboleth project has been one of the leaders in
bringing interoperable digital identity to the academic and research
communities worldwide," said Michael B. Jones, senior program manager for
Identity Partnerships at Microsoft. "Shibboleth's support for Information
Cards allows people in the Shibboleth federation to use the cards at sites
participating in the Identity Metasystem, making the identities more
valuable to both the issuers and to the individuals, as well as enhancing
the user's control of their online interactions."

    For more information on Shibboleth, visit:
http://shibboleth.internet2.edu
    

About Internet2
    Internet2 is the foremost U.S. advanced networking consortium. Led by
the research and education community since 1996, Internet2 promotes the
missions of its members by providing both leading-edge network capabilities
and unique partnership opportunities that together facilitate the
development, deployment and use of revolutionary Internet technologies.
Internet2 brings the U.S. research and academic community together with
technology leaders from industry, government and the international
community to undertake collaborative efforts that have a fundamental impact
on tomorrow's Internet.

SOURCE Internet2