Tip #4571 - Open ID
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Open
ID
Another reader
asks: As an extension to your Secure
Passwords article, would you discuss the Open ID concept? Some
examples would really be helpful. (In order to see how they work,
I have gone to several Open ID enabled Web sites and navigated through
their sign up processes. I didn’t see anything special, but
then again, I also backed out before I actually created an account).
Great question! When I first saw a Web site that used the Open
ID system, I had questions too. So, here you go! Here is
some information on the Open ID system.
The general idea
of the Open ID system is to allow people to use one username and password
for several Web sites. This allows for customers to have access to
the different sites without the need of creating a separate username,
profile and password for each site individually.
Currently, there
are 471 Web sites that support the Open ID system. So, there is a
chance you may already have an Open ID and not even know it! When
you visit one of the sites that supports Open ID and create a username
and password, you have automatically created an Open ID for yourself.
You can visit
this Web site to see a list
of sites that currently support the Open ID system.
Now, this does
relate very closely to last week's article about secure passwords.
With systems such as the Open ID network, it is very important to
have a strong password. Since your ID can be used on several different
Web sites, if someone got ahold of your password, they would have
access to all of those sites, including all of your personal profile
information. Making sure you use strong passwords should always be
a priority, but with the Open ID system, it's even more important.
If you're interested
in getting an Open ID or finding out even more information about it,
you can visit the official Open ID Web site right here.
Until next
time, stay safe out there, my friends!
~ Gary
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