The digital landscape has changed dramatically, with growing cloud adoption, remote workforces, and an explosion of interconnected devices—all this changing the way data is accessed and used. This is a hyper-connected world that is at once full of huge opportunities and daunting security challenges. At the very core of these challenges lies one very basic question: who has access to what and why?
This is where Identity and Access Management (IAM) fits in. Rather than being some sort of esoteric area of security concern, IAM has really become a keystone of any modern security strategy. Be it functioning as the gatekeeper or digital bouncer, it ensures that only the right people have access to data and resources required for their jobs, all the while locking everything else down tight and secure.
The Rise of Security Threats
IAM is important given the threats that seem to rise every day. Consider the following statistics:
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, there were an estimated 1.8 million data breaches alone in 2022.
A recent report from Verizon, the 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report, found that 82% of breaches within their dataset involved some element of the human factor, thus pointing out a vulnerability either through human error or insider threat.
According to a study by IBM, this year the average cost of a data breach reached an all-time high average cost of $4.35 million. These statistics come very near to being dim. Breaches are not only becoming frequent, but they are also becoming costly. Traditional security measures focused on firewalls and perimeter defense are no longer enough. Hackers will continue to innovate, and weak passwords, manipulate privileged access, and have vulnerabilities in user identities.
IAM: The Shield Against Modern Threats
So, how does IAM fight off these modern threats? Here's how:
Centralized Identity Management: IAM systems provide single-point control over user identities and their access privileges. This eliminates the sprawl of disparate logins and permissions across various applications that make it difficult to enforce security policies and audit user activity.
Robust Authentication: One of the core tenets of Identity and access management is multi-factor authentication. Identity access management reduces a huge amount of risk of unauthorized access in case hackers steal your login credentials by insisting on additional verification steps beyond just a username and password.
Least Privilege Access: According to the principle of least privilege, a user should be given only those privileges that are necessary for his job. Identity access management enforces this by literally controlling user permission to the granular level and hence, substantially reducing the damage in case an account gets compromised. It means automated provisioning and de-provisioning of users. Managing user accounts manually is labour-intensive and error-prone. Identity access management automated provisioning and de-provisioning enables timely access to the facility for new employees and the instant removal of access for people who no longer need it, reducing the risk that stale accounts hanging around could end up being exploited by attackers.
Continuous Monitoring and Auditing: Effective identity and access management solutions must have mechanisms for real-time user activity- and access attempt-based monitoring. It helps to track suspicious behaviour and anomalies so that mitigation of such activities can be done right away in order to ward off a potential threat.
Beyond Security: The Broader Benefits of Identity and Access Management
Its benefits range much beyond the sphere of enhancing security. Identity access management can bring in quite a lot of operational efficiency and compliance:
Simplified Access Management
Identity access management empowers simple on-boarding and access management of users, which reduces the IT burden to deliver a smooth user experience.
Improved Compliance: Identity access management helps the organization comply with data privacy regulations—like GDPR and CCPA—using auditable access controls and attributes of protection towards data.
Improved Productivity
Identity access management allows users to be productive because it removes the task of logging into multiple applications, remembering permissions, and other such tasks; rather, allowing them to work on the core tasks.
Data-Driven Approach to Identity and Access Management
Modern data-driven businesses certainly need their Identity and access management solutions to be customized and allow for deep insights into user access trends and patterns via data analytics, which often bring with them potential security risks. Here is how:
UBA—User Behavior Analytics: User activity logs can be analyzed to identify the anomalies indicative of a potentially compromised account or even company IT infrastructure compromises. This may include deviations from common access patterns, such as unusual login locations or access attempts that take place during non-business hours, which then set off alerts for further investigation.
RBAC: Here, the access privileges to supervised assets are dynamically adjusted, according to a user's role, location, and device, among other risk factors. This provides an additional layer of security by allowing access only in situations when the context warrants.
DLP: DLP solutions integrated with Identity access management can prevent sensitive data from being accessed, downloaded, or shared.
The ROI of Identity access management
Real value for Identity access management includes a deliverable positive return on investment. Much may be said about security, but business decision-makers want real facts and figures to back their budgetary choices. How to measure return on investment for Identity access management:
Lower Costs of Data Breach
The same IBM study reported that organizations with mature identity and access management strategies recorded a 27% lower cost of data breaches compared to those organizations with weak identity and access management. Considering the average cost of a data breach is $4.35 million, effective identity and access management can save an organization millions of dollars.
Improved Productivity of Employees
Research by Gartner estimates that employees spend an average of 1% to 5% of the workweek solving logins and access problems issues. The amount of time wasted on these problems can be reduced if IAM is implemented, leading to huge gains in productivity.
Higher IT Efficiency
Automation of provisioning and deprovisioning of users will reduce the workload of IT teams, making them truly focus on other strategic initiatives within the organization. IAM can simplify access request processes, saving IT time and resources.
Decreased Costs of Compliance
Maintaining compliance with data privacy regulations is complex and expensive. A strong identity and access management system facilitates compliance with auditable access control with automated reports.
Step-by-Step Guide to a Successful identity and access management strategy
Implementing a successful identity and access management strategy calls for meticulous planning and execution. The following is a step-by-step guide to get you started:
Security Risk Assessment: Identify the critical data assets within your enterprise and understand your current access control practices. This gives a basis upon which to tailor your identity and access management strategy in addressing vulnerabilities that exist within this organization.
Define User Access Policies: This would mean clearly defining user provisioning policies, access control policies, and password management policies. Again, these policies would be in support of the overall security strategy and compliance requirements.
Select the Right Identity and Access Management Solution: Surf through various identity and access management solutions vis-à-vis the size of your organization, budget, and specific needs. Cloud-based identity and access management solutions bring in much-needed scalability with inherent ease of deployment.
User Education and Awareness: Educate your employees on the good practices of identity and access management, including good password hygiene and reporting of suspicious activities.
Continual Monitoring and Improvement: identity and access management does not represent a one-time and fixed implementation. Continuously monitor user activity and detect further vulnerabilities to the system; in view of changed conditions or otherwise, alter the identity and access management strategy accordingly.
Identity access management – an Imperative Element of Modern Security
In this age of data, Identity access management is no longer a luxury but a requirement; cyber threats are rising in intensity each day. With a robust strategy for Identity access management in place, it becomes possible for organizations to guard the repository of data assets, boost productivity among users, and ensure compliance with data privacy regulations.
Yes, Identity access management forms the basis on which a good security posture is predicated. The path going forward for a more secure digital future for an organization lies through investment in Identity access management.
eMudhra acts as a trusted partner in your identity and access management journey, providing the tools and technologies to create a secure and compliant access management system for your organization. By leveraging eMudhra's services, you can empower your workforce, safeguard your data, and build a foundation of trust in the digital age.
