Identity management

In computer security, identity and access management (IAM) is the security and business discipline that "enables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times and for the right reasons". It addresses the need to ensure appropriate access to resources across increasingly heterogeneous technology environments and to meet increasingly rigorous compliance requirements.

The terms "identity management" (IdM) and "identity and access management" are used interchangeably in the area of Identity access management. "Identity management" comes under the umbrella of IT security.

Identity-management systems, products, applications and platforms manage identifying and ancillary data about entities that include individuals, computer-related hardware, and software applications.

IdM covers issues such as how users gain an identity, the protection of that identity and the technologies supporting that protection (e.g., , digital certificates, passwords, etc.).

Identity management (IdM) is the task of controlling information about users on computers. Such information includes information that authenticates the identity of a user, and information that describes information and actions they are authorized to access and/or perform. It also includes the management of descriptive information about the user and how and by whom that information can be accessed and modified. Managed entities typically include users, hardware and network resources and even applications.

Digital identity is an entity's online presence, encompassing personal identifying information (PII) and ancillary information. See OECD and NIST guidelines on protecting PII. It can be interpreted as the codification of identity names and attributes of a physical instance in a way that facilitates processing.

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