There is almost nothing worse than a case of mistaken identity. If you count yourself amongst the masses that prefer to keep things like access permissions in order, then pay close attention – you’ll find important information ahead. Perhaps you haven’t heard of Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems? Well, you’re most certainly not alone. If you have, then a refresher could be a good idea.
IAM technology can be used to launch, capture, trace and manage user identities and their associated access permissions automatically. This guarantees that access is granted according to one version of policy, and that all individuals and services are accurately authenticated, authorized and audited.
To sum it up, Identity and Access Management is the security discipline that enables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times for the right reasons. Poorly managed IAM processes may lead to regulatory compliance issues, because if a business is audited, administrators will not be able to provide evidence that company data is not at risk for being mismanaged.
Do I Need IAM for my Organization?
It can be a challenge to get funding for IAM projects since they don’t directly boost profitability or functionality. With that being said, without effective identity and access management, there can be serious risks to compliance and security for the whole organization. These administration issues raise the chance of big damages from both internal and external threats.
Keeping the constant flow of business data free while concurrently managing its access has always required administrative attention. The IT business environment is forever evolving, and the challenges only become greater with the newer trends like BYOD, cloud, mobile apps, and an increasingly mobile workforce. There are more devices and products to be managed then there have ever been, with a broad range of requirements for associated access privileges.
With more and more to keep track of as workers navigate through different roles in an organization, it gets trickier to manage identity and access. The frequent problem is that privileges are approved as needed when employee duties change, but the access level escalation is not taken away when it isn’t required.
This situation of granting general rather than specific access leads to an amassing of privileges known as privilege creep. Privilege creep generates security risks in a couple of different ways. An employee with rights outside of what is needed may access applications and data in an informal and potentially insecure manner. Additionally, if an imposter gains access to the account of a worker with additional privileges, he may actually be able to do great harm. Data loss or theft can result from both scenarios.
Usually, this buildup of privilege is of no use to the employee or the organization. At best, it might be handy in situations when the employee is asked to do unanticipated tasks. On the flip side, it might make things much simpler for an attacker who manages to access an over-privileged employee identity. Poor identity access administration often leads employees to retain privileges after they are no longer employed by the organization.
What Should an IAM System Entail?
IAM solutions are supposed to automate the initiation, capturing, recording and management of user identities and their associated access permissions. The products should incorporate a centralized directory service that can be scaled as a company grows. This central directory prevents credentials from getting recorded haphazardly in files or on paper as employees try to work with the inconvenience of multiple passwords for different systems.
An access and privilege system inside the central directory ought to automatically match employee job title, location and business unit ID to administer access requests automatically. These pieces of information help classify right of entry requests pertinent to employees’ existing positions. Depending on the employee, some rights might be intrinsic in their position and provisioned automatically, while others may be permissible upon request.
In some cases, reviews may be necessary. Other requests might be denied or outright prohibited except in the event of exemption. All variations should be handled automatically and adequately by the IAM system. An IAMS should also set workflows for managing admission requests, with the option of multiple stages of reviews with approval necessities for each application. This mechanism can facilitate setting various risk level-appropriate review processes for higher-level access as well as reviews of current rights to prevent privilege creep.
At dinCloud, we can plan everything out for you and have a simple, predictable billing cycle with no surprises. In short, we are here to help, and we urge you to request information any time to learn more.
