Companies with a growing workforce and IT infrastructure are constantly in the position to rethink how they can protect critical business data. Due to cost and compatibility with legacy systems, the most popular form of user authentication continues to be the good ol’ secret password. Count up to three or more passwords for every employee and that’s a whole lot of data to protect and manage.

As passwords are simply secret words or phrases, they can be compromised in several ways, whether it’s transmitted unsafely over a network or stored on a workstation or server, or it’s simply a user naively writing them down or sharing with colleagues. Each of these vulnerabilities makes it quite effortless for someone to obtain the password value and subsequently pose as the user whose identity the password protects.

The tips for creating the perfect password are endless, but one’s identity is never truly secure unless a company implements a substantial identity and access management solution. So it’s no surprise that over 900 organizations across the globe are currently utilizing Hitachi (News - Alert) ID Systems’ Identity Manager, Password Manager and Privileged Access Manager solutions to manage identities, entitlements and credentials across on-premise and cloud-hosted applications.

“Hitachi ID Systems (News - Alert) is an advocate for protecting enterprise-wide critical data,” said Gideon Shoham, CEO of Hitachi ID Systems, in a prepared statement. “Our reputable industry-agnostic IAM solutions are convenient, provide low total cost of ownership and ensure effective access security controls; key drivers when selecting an enterprise-scale solution.” 

Hitachi ID Systems will be spreading the wealth, and the word, on its leading IAM solutions to approximately 22,000 attendees for two days – Jan. 16 and 17 -- at the Retail’s BIG Show, the National Retail Federation’s yearly industry event. This year’s convention, taking place in New York City over four days, will provide education, collegial networking and a massive expo floor showcasing today’s most innovative technologies and solutions.

Attendees can visit the identity management company at booth No. 2858. For more information, click here.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

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Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves