May 23, 2003—Many Global 2000 companies are suffering from serious security vulnerabilities and operational inefficiencies because of a lack of secure identity management, according to new study by Stanford University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Among several key findings, the study notes that nearly half of the companies surveyed take longer than two days—and many longer than two weeks—to revoke the network access of terminated employees, and that implementing secure identity management can drive down help desk costs by more than $1 million annually.
The study, “Exploring Secure Identity Management in Global Enterprises,” was sponsored by Novell’s worldwide services organization to explore the key business drivers for secure identity management, as well as obstacles to its adoption. The study consisted of a statistical analysis of nearly 200 Global 2000 company survey responses and more than 30 individual interviews with IT executives and IT managers in North America, Europe and Asia. Companies shared their current technologies, processes and attitudes regarding the management of user identities and access rights.
Survey responses also included a number of anecdotal examples of the security challenges and inefficiencies many of the world’s largest companies are facing. For example:
- An IT specialist at a global apparel manufacturer commented that eight out of ten times he finds users’ passwords written on the back of their business cards or under their keyboards.
- An IT manager at a global apparel manufacturer and retailer explained that employees were often given inappropriate access rights by mistake, citing human errors as one of the most common reasons.
- According to survey respondents, it is common to share passwords among users for even the most critical systems, such as ERP applications.
- On average, an administrator needs to manually enter redundant data in four different applications or systems each time a user changes departments or a new user is added.
To see the complete Stanford University/Hong Kong University of Science and Technology study, see “Exploring Secure Identity Management in Global Enterprises.” For more information about Novell Nsure secure identity management solutions, contact Novell.
