As businesses transition more operations and data to digital environments, securing identity has become paramount. With employees, customers, partners and others accessing applications and information remotely through various devices, traditional perimeter-based security is no longer effective. Without robust identity and access management (IAM) controls in place, it is difficult for organizations to confidently grant access while mitigating risks of fraud and data breaches. IAM helps ensure the right individuals can access the right digital resources through the right channels at the right times for the right reasons.
According to a recent survey, over 80% of organizations experienced a data breach over the past two years that involved compromised credentials. With identities used more frequently across a wider attack surface, proper management of who and what has access to corporate systems is critical. Poor security hygiene like password reuse, lack of multi-factor authentication and limited access reviews allow bad actors to more easily infiltrate networks under legitimate credentials. Identity and Access Management solutions address these vulnerabilities through user provisioning workflows, strong authentication and detailed auditing of access activities.
Policy-Driven Access and Lifecycle Management
Advanced identity and access management offerings centralize digital identity data and promote identity governance based on centralized policy administration. Having a holistic view of all identities, entitlements, auth methods and access transactions enables companies to codify rules regarding who gets what level of permissions for which resources and when. Automated lifecycle hooks further ensure identities stay in sync with real-world changes in employment, third-party relationships and more. Relevant stakeholders are alerted to necessary access removals or modifications proactively instead of reactively after a problem arises.
Implementing Lifecycle Processes and Reviews
Consistent enforcement of identity lifecycles is key to maintaining oversight and reducing risk exposures from inactive or unnecessary accounts. During onboarding, identity and access management streamlines requests for access and automates provisioning based on job roles. Offboarding integrates with HR to promptly deactivate leavers’ access rights. Periodic reviews involve privileged access security teams or managers verifying that permissions are still justified and up to date. Centralized change management records all access-related changes for auditing purposes too. By operationalizing these processes, accounts and entitlements stay optimized according to current business needs.
Authentication Security Uplift with Biometrics and Adaptive Authentication
Biometric-based multifactor authentication (MFA) addresses password over-reliance and improves the user experience compared to traditional one-time passcodes. Facial recognition, fingerprint scanning and other biometrics provide a seamless second factor to logins in a manner convenient for remote and mobile workers. Adaptive authentication takes this a step further, leveraging machine learning algorithms to continuously analyze authentication transactional behavior and device/location parameters. Based on risk conditions like atypical sign-in locations, this allows blocking suspicious access attempts real-time before credentials are even entered. Companies see reduced help desk friction and step-up authentications for high-risk scenarios with these emerging methods.
Single Sign-On for Applications and Resources
Overlapping credentials become difficult to manage as employees juggle more SaaS apps, devices and internal systems. Single sign-on (SSO) is a critical user productivity component of identity and access management. Integrating apps to an identity source of truth removes credentials from the equation entirely for seamless silent login. SSO also enhances security by preventing password sprawl and lock-outs from forgotten passwords. Users focus on their jobs instead of constantly entering combinations. Behind the scenes, policies ensure applications only receive the minimally necessary entitlement data to fulfill their functions while respecting data privacy regulations. SSO streamlines the experience for all involved – end-users, help desks and IT administrators.
Cloud Access Security Broker Controls Hybrid Scenarios
As businesses adopt public cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service offerings, Platform-as-a-Service capabilities and hosted Software-as-a-Service applications, managing identities across environments becomes essential. A Cloud Access Security Broker acts as a control plane, enforcing security and compliance rules consistently whether resources reside in traditional data centers or spread throughout different clouds. Cloud entities integrate with the identity source of truth enabling SSO, MFA enforcement, entitlement orchestration, event log consolidation and threat detection. With a central dashboard, teams gain control over a complex hybrid architecture and ensure appropriate safeguards apply wherever sensitive data travels.
The business imperative for identity and access management has never been stronger as digital ways of working accelerate. By deploying modern IAM tools and processes, organizations can grant flexibility while maintaining oversight, reducing breach risks and operational costs all at once. With identities secured, businesses can focus on leveraging new technologies rather than fighting identity-based issues.
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About Author:
Ravina Pandya, Content Writer, has a strong foothold in the market research industry. She specializes in writing well-researched articles from different industries, including food and beverages, information and technology, healthcare, chemical and materials, etc. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravina-pandya-1a3984191)
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