Terms and Definitions

• CAS

Central Authentication Service, which is the single sign on tool we use for access to most of the VCU web applications.

• Connector

Connectors facilitate data transfers between producers and consumers of identity and access data.

• Credential

 An identifier employed by the user to gain access to a network. It's the user's password, public key infrastructure (PKI) certificate or biometric information (fingerprint, retinal scan).

• Digital identity

   The digital identity includes the identity attributes of and any access privileges. 

• Entitlement

   The set of attributes that specify the access rights and privileges of an authenticated security principal.

• Identity Lifecycle Management

  Identity lifecycle management refers to the entire set of processes and technologies for maintaining and updating digital identities. Identity lifecycle management includes identity synchronization, provisioning, de-provisioning, and the ongoing management of user attributes, credentials and entitlements.

• Identity Synchronization

The process of synchronizing identity data across systems or identity vaults.

• Identity Vault

An identity vault is a secure location where the attributes / data that construct an identity are stored.  The identity vault serves as an authoritative source for identity data, and synchronizes this data down to consuming systems. 

• LDAP

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) provides connection to directory services in order to search and modify objects.

• OAuth

OAuth is used for authorizing access to third-party websites without exposing passwords.

• Offboarding (deprovisioning)

Offboarding is the process of disabling accounts and revoking access.

• Onboarding (provisioning)

Onboarding is the process of creating accounts and granting access through roles and group memberships

• Self Service Password reset

An identity management system that allows users to re-establish their own passwords, relieving the administrators of the job and cutting support calls. The reset application is usually accessed by the user through a browser. The application asks for a secret word or a set of questions to verify the user's identity.

• SAML

Secure Assertion Markup Language (SAML) allows secure web domains to exchange authentication and authorization data

• Single Sign On (SSO)

Single Sign On permits a user to access multiple applications with a single set of credentials.