MIT Forms Kerberos Consortium

MIT has launched the Kerberos Consortium, according to a report from the university's News Office. MIT is the originator of Kerberos, a network authentication protocol. One of the goals of the consortium is to expand it to offer data protection to a wider range of clients, including various consumer devices.

Founding sponsors of the consortium include Centrify Corp., the Financial Services Technology Consortium, Google, Stanford University, Sun Microsystems, TeamF1, and the University of Michigan. The group will also receive support from Apple.

"By establishing the Kerberos Consortium, MIT seeks to permit Kerberos to continue to grow and develop as a stable and universal 'single sign-on' mechanism for the users of modern computer networks," said Stephen Buckley, who's heading up the consortium as executive director, in a statement released by MIT. "The Consortium will provide a mechanism to permit greater industry participation in the funding and development of Kerberos, and thus allow it to evolve into the universal 'single sign-on mechanism' users need but do not yet have."

The group said it foresees Kerberos becoming "as ubiquitous as TCP/IP-based networking itself" in order to protect businesses and consumers from everything from data breaches to phishing.

To this end, the group plans to "implement the solutions it promotes in the form of open source reference implementations that can be used by Consortium members within their products and organizations without licensing fees," according to MIT.

Read More:

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


Featured

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.

  • cybersecurity analyst in a modern operations center monitors multiple digital screens showing padlock icons, graphs, and a global map with security markers

    Louisiana State University Doubles Down on Larger Student-Run SOC

    In an effort to provide students with increased access to real-world cybersecurity experience, Louisiana State University has expanded its relationship with cybersecurity solutions provider TekStream to launch TigerSOC, a new student-run security operations center.

  • flowing lines and geometric shapes representing data flow and analysis

    Complete College America Launches Center to Boost Data-Driven Student Success Strategies

    National nonprofit Complete College America (CCA) recently launched the Center for Leadership, Institutional Metrics, and Best Practices (CLIMB), with the goal of helping higher education institutions use data-driven strategies to improve student outcomes.

  • geometric pattern features abstract icons of a dollar sign, graduation cap, and document

    Maricopa Community Colleges Adopts Platform to Combat Student Application Fraud

    In an effort to secure its admissions and financial processes, Maricopa Community Colleges has partnered with A.M. Simpkins and Associates (AMSA) to implement the company's S.A.F.E (Student Application Fraudulent Examination) across the district's 10 institutions.