NIH Web Meeting Is Now Using NIH Login

On September 13, 2010, the NIH Web Meeting System began using NIH Login to authenticate users. This means that Web Meeting users no longer have a Connect-specific username and password, but instead use their federated username and password to log into web meetings.

What is my login now?

For NIH and HHS users, the federated username and password is your NIH computer login.

For non-NIH users, your federated username and password is your institution's login if your institution is federated with NIH. If your institution is not federated with NIH, your federated login will be your NIH External account.

What is federated identity?

Federated identity, implemented through the NIH Federated Identity Service, enables authorized individuals to securely access multiple applications and data sources across institutions—such as NIH, other federal organizations, and universities—using a single login and password.

For more on federated identity, see the article "NIH Federated Identity Service" in Interface issue 243, and the article "Open Identity for Open Government at NIH" in Interface issue 245.

What is an NIH External account?

NIH External accounts are created through the NIH External Directory Service in order to allow non-NIH users to have secure and authenticated access to NIH data. Sponsors for external collaborators request "projects" via the Web, and then IC project owners work with CIT to provide an account with specific permissions and tracking of service usage.

There is no charge for an NIH External account, however a Service Level Agreement (SLA) must be signed with the CIT Integrated Service Center (ISC) and a project must be set up to hold the accounts requested by a sponsor.

A separate account is created for each outside-NIH collaborator in the NIH External Directory. This option (NIH External account creation) for collaboration is short-term until the collaborator's institution/university/college has integrated their directory with NIH's Federated Identity solution, if at all applicable.

Additional background on the NIH External Active Directory is available at https://external.cit.nih.gov/.

How do I sponsor NIH External accounts?

For information on sponsoring an NIH External account, please contact the NIH IT Service Desk at http://itservicedesk.nih.gov/support or call 301-496-4357, 301-496-8294 (TTY), or toll free at 866-319-4357, or consult the steps of the process as explained on the Web Collaboration NIH Login page at http://webcollaboration.nih.gov/nihLogin.aspx.

The transition process for users

Users with a nih.gov email address: On September 13, 2010, all current Web Meeting users who previously logged into Connect with an NIH email address (for example: doej@mail.nih.gov) had their usernames updated to their NIH usernames (for example: doej), and the storage of passwords in the Web Meeting system itself was discontinued. At that time, all NIH users were automatically given participant-level accounts on the system, so you are now able to invite them to your meeting from within the system without having to go through the non-billable account request process. Current meeting permissions are unaffected by this change.

External users without nih.gov email addresses who have a federated account or an NIH External account: As of September 13, 2010, users who already possess a federated login should select the "Federated Login" option from the Connect Login page, and enter their credentials to login to the Web Meeting service. Since the implementation of the login change, we have made a link to detailed frequently asked questions and answers available on the Web Meeting login page.

Grace period: There will be a grace period from September 13, 2010, through November 30, 2010, in which users not currently using a nih.gov email address can still use their current Connect logins. This grace period is in place to ensure that current legitimate users are not denied access during the transition, and that NIH External accounts can be provisioned for non-NIH users who do not have access to a federated user account.

If you have a federated or external account, but are unable to log in to your Web Meeting account, please contact the NIH IT Service Desk to have your Web Meeting account associated with your federated or external account.

Note: As of the cut-over on September 13th, new Web Meeting users who do not possess a federated login will need to be sponsored for an NIH External account.

Why did we do this?

We made this change to better comply with NIH security policies and procedures and to provide a safe and responsible service to our community. Additionally, there were customer requests to eliminate the Connect-specific username and password. With NIH Login, users do not have to remember a separate username and password for Connect.

More information

We are striving to minimize the impact to users during the login transition. Updates on the transition will be posted to our Web Collaboration news feed and our NIH Web Meeting Login Page, which will be continually updated.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact the NIH IT Service Desk at http://itservicedesk.nih.gov/support or call 301-496-4357, 301-496-8294 (TTY), or toll free at 866-319-4357.

You may also find the below links helpful:

• NIH Login


• Federated Identity


• NIH External Directory

A version of this article was published in the Summer 2010 issue of the Web Collaboration newsletter.

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