New Lockstep publications

27 Feb 09: A new "Babystep" on some of the follies of federated ID, and a number of recent Online Banking Review columns.

The new Babystep 13 explains why authentication brokers that purport to break open identity silos will always be harder to build than they first appear. A broker might serve to reduce the number of bilateral arrangements between identity providers and relying parties, but it turns out that the necessary new contracts with the broker are far more weighty and expensive, so the total cost of such federated systems is greater than the traditional siloed situation.

We have also -- thanks to the kind permission of Charis Palmer at Online Banking Review -- posted four recent OBR columns, looking at a solution to Card Not Present fraud, the limitations of security education, the 2008 Cartes smartcard conference, and the new wave of avatar theft and other virtual world related crimes.