Understanding Windows CardSpace: An Introduction to the Concepts and Challenges of Digital Identities

Preface

In the past few years, identity has finally been receiving the attention it deservers.

With rampaging phishing and widespread cybercrime as the forcing functions, the industry as a whole is reacting with a concerted effort to understand what the best practices are and is getting there fast. We had the privilege of being among the first people concretely working on one of the key efforts of the identity renaissance: Windows CardSpace.

Windows CardSpace is an expression of the new user-centered approach to identity management. The new approach is poised to solve many different problems of diverse natures: There are technological considerations, such as offering better authentication mechanisms than passwords; usability considerations, such ...