DENVER, April 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Identity Defined Security Alliance (IDSA), a nonprofit that provides vendor-neutral education and resources to help organizations reduce the risk of a breach by combining identity and security strategies, today announced the winners of the inaugural Identity Management Awards. The awards are part of today’s first-ever Identity Management Day, hosted by the IDSA in partnership with the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). Winners were selected by a panel of judges from the IDSA and NCSA for their commitment to identity management and security as an enabler to business operations while reducing risks.
Identity Management Evangelist of the Year: Tom Malta, Head of Identity and Access Management, Navy Federal Credit Union
This award recognizes exemplary individuals who evangelize and progress identity management and security initiatives in their organization, help to protect their company against identity-related breaches, and work to educate the broader industry on the subject. For over two decades, Tom Malta has been evangelizing best practices and principles of Identity and Access Management (IAM) through webinars and interviews, while also serving as an advisor to vendors and service firms. Malta demonstrates an innovative approach to building out both workforce and external-facing IAM programs by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and adopting appropriate standards. Whether working from a B2B or B2C perspective, Malta prioritizes a long-term, strategic approach, ultimately safeguarding his organizations and any businesses who seek his advice.
Finalists:
- Bil Harmer, CISO and Chief Evangelist, SecureAuth
- Mradula Singh, Founder and CEO, NexSchools
- Sam Tang, Managing Director of Cybersecurity Services, Ernst & Young LLP
Identity Management Organization of the Year: The City of Boston
This award recognizes organizations that go above and beyond to protect employee, customer, and partner identities, and have implemented outstanding identity management and security projects. The City of Boston initiated a complete transformation of its identity program in order to improve overall security posture, end reliance on legacy systems, and solve user experience issues. The project, Access Boston, was the culmination of a 2-year multi-million-dollar IAM program implementation. Access Boston better protects city resources through effective and efficient identity lifecycle management, access control and account auditing. The project also enhanced user experience by simplifying and improving staff access to city applications and data from anywhere, along with self-service functionality for password resets and access requests and has reduced administrative overhead by minimizing the duplication of effort through streamlined provisioning and deprovisioning.
Finalists:
- Intermountain Healthcare
- Sonrai Security
- Starbucks
“The response to the first-ever Identity Management Evangelist and Organization of the Year Awards was overwhelming. The winners represent significant transformational efforts and a long-term commitment to evangelizing the importance of identity management and securing digital identities,” said Julie Smith, executive director of the IDSA. “On behalf of the IDSA and NCSA, I would like to congratulate the winners and finalists of the inaugural Identity Management Awards. We hope that other companies can look to them for best practices on Identity Management Day and beyond.”
Identity Management Day Live Events - April 13
- 10 a.m. MT - Identity Management Day 2021 Panel Webcast moderated by Julie Smith, executive director of the IDSA. Panelists will include: Kelvin Coleman, executive director of the NCSA, Stephen Lee, VP, technical strategy and partnerships for Okta, Tom Malta, head of IAM for Navy Federal Credit Union, and Greg McCarthy, chief information security officer for the City of Boston.
- 12 p.m. MT - NCSA Webinar: Secure Your SMB with Proper Identity Management.
- 1 p.m. MT - #IDMgmtDayChat on Twitter hosted by the NCSA (@StaySafeOnline). To participate, contact Jennifer Cook, jennifer@staysafeonline.org.
To learn more about Identity Management Day, visit www.identitymanagementday.org.
About Identity Management Day
Identity Management Day, founded by the Identity Defined Security Alliance, and held the second Tuesday of April each year, aims to inform about the dangers of casually or improperly managing and securing digital identities by raising awareness, sharing best practices, and leveraging the support of vendors in the identity security space. To learn more and get involved, visit www.identitymanagementday.org.
About the Identity Defined Security Alliance
The IDSA is a group of identity and security vendors, solution providers, and practitioners that acts as an independent source of thought leadership, expertise, and practical guidance on identity centric approaches to security for technology professionals. The IDSA is a nonprofit that facilitates community collaboration to help organizations reduce risk by providing education, best practices, and resources.