Today Dark Reading launches a new feature: the Authentication Tech Center, a subsite of Dark Reading devoted to bringing you news, insight, and in-depth reporting on the topic of authentication and certification of end user access.This is the sixth of our Dark Reading Tech Centers, which are designed to provide you with a more focused view of specific issues, threats, and technologies in the world of IT security. The Tech Centers offer in-depth reports and studies, breaking news, and links to additional articles and information not found on the main Dark Reading site. Just as a traditional newspaper offers in-depth sections or supplements on sports, entertainment, or politics, the Dark Reading Tech Centers provide an additional range of news and information for readers who have an interest in specific aspects of IT security.

While Dark Reading does a good deal of coverage of online access and verification of end user credentials, we have not previously offered a single location for news and information on critical topics such as password management, multifactor authentication, SSL encryption, online certificates, biometrics, and digital signatures. The goal of the Authentication Tech Center is to provide breaking news on these important technologies and the threats, challenges, and opportunities that surround them.

With this charter in mind, you can expect the Authentication Tech Center to take a slightly different perspective than the rest of the Dark Reading site -- our coverage will be focused not only on threats to current authentication systems and technologies, but also on best practices for verifying users' identities and ensuring the authenticity of data. You'll get a deeper look at the authentication methods and technologies that really work -- and some insight on why others really don't.

The goal of the Authentication Tech Center is to help you make informed decisions about what tools, technologies, services, and practices your organization can use to secure and defend its sensitive business data. In some cases, we'll discuss practices you can implement yourself; in other cases, we'll offer a look at technologies or services you can purchase from vendors, service providers, or consultants. And, of course, we'll keep you abreast of the latest threats to authentication systems and the vulnerabilities that may cause them to fail, as well as methods for shoring up the systems you have.

The creation of the Authentication Tech Center, however, doesn't mean that our coverage of authentication issues on the main Dark Reading site will decrease. You'll continue to see stories about new developments in authentication on our home page, and the subject will remain a topic of discussion for our bloggers and on our message boards. But when you click on those stories or blogs, you'll be brought here, to the Tech Center, so that you can see the full range of news and information that we offer on the topic, and gain additional context to support what you're reading.

We think the Authentication Tech Center will help you understand the access and authentication challenges and threats that enterprises face, and make good decisions about the tools and practices that might work best for your organization. But in the end, this is your site. Please let us know what you think of the Tech Center, our coverage of authentication issues, and what you'd like to see us cover in more depth. We can't guarantee we'll answer every query with a story or in-depth report, but we'll do our best to meet your needs for additional information and analysis.

If it has to do with threats, defenses, or best practices in end user authentication, you'll find it here. And if you don't, let us know -- our goal is to be the most comprehensive source of authentication news and information on the Web.

Tim Wilson Editor, Dark Reading