There's Action On The Convergence Front Finally

Oct 1, 2003 12:00 PM, LARRY ANDERSON, Editor

The convergence of security and information technology is a lot like the weather: Everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it.

Until now.

In the few months since its inception last spring, the Open Security Exchange (OSE) has not been standing still. Organized by industry suppliers last April, the OSE has the stated goal of addressing the lack of integration commonly found in today's security infrastructure. Founding members are HID Corp., Computer Associates, Tyco Software House and Gemplus — each company positioned to supply a different piece of the convergence puzzle. How those pieces will fit together is the purview of the OSE.

Exchange members presented an update on its activities in Washington, D.C., this month, and there was plenty to talk about. Listening to the presentations, and despite the many forces to the contrary, one actually believes that convergence could happen. I even found myself believing that it will happen.

Inevitability has been a strong argument in favor of the security industry taking a leadership role in convergence. However, it has been unclear how much effect the security industry could have or whether it would be overshadowed by IT forces.

With the Open Security Exchange, we are now playing a leadership role, and we have a seat at the table. It's a clear and present opportunity. (See www.opensecurityexchange.org on the Internet.)

As I said, plenty to talk about, such as:

• New members on board, again representing disparate parts of the security puzzle — from software authentication (ActivCard), to building integration (Siemens Building Technology), to policy-based security surveillance (VistaScape), to card printing (Fargo Electronics), to authentication technology (Core Street).

• New advisors on board (security industry consultant Sandra Jones and IT researcher Steve Hunt of Forrester Research) — and more to come — acknowledging that suppliers don't think they have all the answers.

• Alignment with the standards-writing efforts of the Security Industry Association (SIA) for the purpose of defining testing criteria for interoperability specs for physical and cyber-security technologies. (SIA is an American National Standards Institute [ANSI]-accredited standards development organization.)

And beyond getting organized and growing, the OSE is developing working groups to tackle subjects such as security data on network storage devices, credential issuance and provisioning best practices, smart card interoperability, and IT and physical security convergence.

Plenty of work ahead, and there's no guarantee that it will all be successful.

But it's a start.

---

Your Thoughts?

We are looking for reader feedback. E-mail landerson@primediabusiness.com and tell us what you think!

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

This month in Access Control

• Targeting The Customer
• Electronic Pedigrees
• One Hero Among Many
• Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• More from September's issue