St George upgrades ID management system

The institution said yesterday it had inked a deal with Novell to extend its licensing of the vendor's technologies, allowing it to enhance its identity management framework.

In a release issued to ZDNet Australia , the vendor said deployment of the enhanced framework would extend the bank's current identity management infrastructure into a "true provisioning and de-provisioning infrastructure," resulting in fewer risks and improved management capabilities.

While the existing identity management infrastructure enabled the automatic provisioning of users in connected systems, the new deal includes software which allows the bank to implement manual provisioning of workflow tasks for individuals or small groups of people as well as password self-help to end-users.

John Loebenstein, chief information officer at St George Bank, said one of the motivations behind the move was to ensure adherence with privacy laws and improve the management of its security infrastructure.

"Being a financial institution operating in a highly regulated environment with strict privacy laws, it was critical that we had control over access to customer information… we see Novell as a trusted security partner for our identity management needs," said Loebenstein in a statement.

Novell's Australasian sales manager Ian Jackson said the deal will allow the bank to implement future technologies to their identity management system.

"We have developed a customised solution which leverages the bank's existing IDM infrastructure through a management framework that will ensure the long term viability and scalability of their identity management requirements," said Jackson in a statement.

Identity management is big business as financial institutions and government agencies attempt to reduce the risks associated with unwanted access to their systems.

Last month, wealth management giant AMP started testing a new identity management system which would eventually be deployed throughout the organisation.