Information security and identity management
It is perfectly normal nowadays to be able to access the Internet and e-mail wherever you happen to be, and higher education institutions wish to give their students optimum access to their networks and details. Wireless connections make it possible to log into networks with your own equipment from virtually any location. Digital access is also simplified because one usually needs only a single account to access numerous networks and systems.
Security
Education institutions wish to protect their information and applications against unauthorised access, but they also need to ensure that these can be accessed by students. SURFfoundation and SURFnet put a great deal of effort into security, for example by:
- developing shared policy and tools;
- assisting institutions to achieve a balance between security, guaranteeing privacy and access, and ease of use.
Identity management
SURFfoundation and SURFnet collaborate in the area of identity management. Identity management involves:
Identification: determining the identity of system users.
Authentication: determining whether people really are who they say they are. This can be achieved by means of:
- information that someone provides, for example an access code;
- items that someone has in their possession, for example a chip card, token, or mobile phone.
The greater the certainty that the information or items belong to the right person, the more secure the authentication.
Authorisation: determining someone’s rights. Is the user entitled to make changes to files or only to read them?
SURFibo
SURFfoundation assists SURFibo, the national platform for data security experts in higher education. Within SURFibo, we work with the higher education institutions to improve professional information security within higher education. We do this by:
- pooling ideas;
- deepening shared knowledge;
- developing guidelines;
- collaborating on the development of a SURF audit
BIS! programme
The various activities of SURFfoundation and SURFnet in the field of information management and security are coordinated within the BIS! programme. This allows us to join forces in the most effective manner. The main focus of collaboration within the programme is to jointly develop a SURF audit for information security.
More information
Frans de Liagre-Böhl, Programme Manager SURFfoundation
T +31 (0)30 234 6600
Alf Moens, Programme Manager Information Security and Identity Management.