Digital Identity

Chapter 1. Introduction

In medieval times, strong walls and moats surrounded great cities. Guards were posted at the gates of the city, and everyone coming or going was inspected and questioned about their purpose for entering or leaving the city. At the same time, cities were where the markets were held. You can imagine the crush at the gates on market day with peasants bringing their goods into the city from outside and visitors clamoring to get to market. After market was over, the process was reversed. With our modern eyes, we can see what an impediment to commerce the walls were, yet at the time, city residents were thankful for their security.

The walls were not broken down by enlightened thinking about of how markets should work, but rather a weapon for which the walls were no match: the trebuchet (see Figure 1-1). A trebuchet is a gravity-powered catapult that is vastly superior to its torsion-powered cousins. The trebuchet revolutionized medieval siege warfare and eventually spelled the end for city walls. The result not only forced an alternative strategy for security, but also had the pleasant side effect of increasing commerce.

I recently had the opportunity to sit with a group of CIOs and discuss digital identity. What struck me was how much of the conversation was about security and liability rather than identity and opportunity. They had a siege mentality and their security planning showed it.

Modern corporations are the walled cities of our time—sitting behind firewalls ...