VMware, Symantec Work On Cloud-Based Single Sign-On Security Services

There's a thunderbolt of change coming in cloud-based identity management, with new possibilities for single sign-on (SSO) and provisioning through cloud-based services.

Symantec and VMware are separately working on their own approaches to cloud-based SSO and identity management, Symantec with its "Project Ozone" and VMware with "Project Horizon." While discussed at VMworld recently, Project Horizon still seems to be exactly that, on the horizon. There's a little more light being shed on Symantec's Project Ozone, which now has officially been given the product name "O3."

Expected to debut next year, O3 will be a way that information technology managers can exert policy-based access control for employees whether they have mobile devices or traditional computers. The O3 service will grant the managers access to any authorized cloud-based service or network, while this access record is maintained for audit and compliance purposes. O3 will be the central point for provisioning and de-provisioning of user access privileges based on a wide means of authentication varying from simple password to stronger means, such as two-factor tokens.