Identity management is a security issue which is becoming increasingly challenging as the perimeter of the network crumbles. This is well illustrated by the DTI Information Security Breaches Survey of 2006, which shows that one in five larger businesses had a security breach associated with weaknesses in their identity management, with the number of incidents being less for smaller companies.

The survey found that incidents were from staff gaining unauthorised access to data, staff obtaining and misusing confidential information, financial theft or fraud, and impersonation or phishing attacks. While the incidence of fraud was low, the impact was greater than for any other type of security incident. Several small businesses lost between £10,000 and £50,000 as a result of fraud and one large bank lost millions.

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