IBM Debuts New Password Reset, Synchronization Software

Published: March 7, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Single sign-on (SSO) may be the wave of the future for controlling how people gain access to computer systems, but it can be a bit complicated to install and configure. And it's not the only game in town for the solution to the problem of forgotten passwords. To that end, IBM last week unveiled its Tivoli Identity Manager (ITIM) Express version 4.6, a new product that provides password synchronization and allows users to reset their passwords.

ITIM Express delivers a Web interface that lets users synchronize their passwords across all their accounts, and reset a forgotten password by successfully answering challenge-response questions. The software also provides administrators with account provisioning capabilities.

The software runs on Windows and Linux operating systems, and works with a wide range of systems. The software comes with an array of adapters, including adapters for operating systems (Windows, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Novell SUSE Linux); directory services (generic LDAP, Novell eDirectory, Windows Active Directory, and Cisco Access Control Server); databases (DB2, Oracle, and Sybase).

In its announcement letter, IBM also speaks of a "second group" of adapters that users can download, including adapters supporting OS/400, RACF, and VMS, which will become available sometime during the second quarter. ITIM Express becomes available April 21.