IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT IN YOUR SECURITY LANDSCAPE
DIGITAL IDENTITY IS THE NEW PERIMETER
Weak and mismanaged credentials are the reason of a lot of security breaches. According to the 2019 Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report (DRIR), 80% of breaches are attributed to weak and mismanaged credentials.
Correctly managing credential information like passwords, usernames, email addresses, workflows, etc. can become very complex, very quickly. Certainly, without a proper system in place to monitor, audit and correct all this information.
Identity and Access Management can reduce the risk of security breaches by automating tasks related to user accounts and identities. Examples of such automated workflows can include; on- and off-boarding identities (employees, contractors and freelancers), granting or revoking access to specific systems they are authorized to, with one push on the button, or analyzing the access of these profiles on all systems they had access to.
IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT AS THE FIRST LINE OF YOUR IT-DEFENSE
Hackers and cyber criminals usually follow the path of least resistance to get access to desired systems. Often this path is gaining access to a low-level account or system. Once succeeded they try to increase the permissions of this account (privilege escalation) to gain access to the assets they targeted (lateral movement).
With Identity and Access Management we can reform these ‘easy’ to follow paths to deny the attackers the entrance to your systems. This can be achieved with IAM solutions, like multi-factor authentication (MFA), password management, Identity life cycle management (IDM), privileged account management (PAM), etc.
IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT AS THE LAST LINE OF YOUR IT-DEFENSE
Identity and Access Management solutions offer different kind of ways to take action and remediate weaknesses or reduce risk in existing IAM processes. This can be seen as a last line of defense in your IT-defense.
Examples of steps that could be taken:
- Disabling accounts and users that have access to specific datasets
- Change, revoke and strengthen passwords of users
- Risk based access controls
- Isolate specific users and accounts (to prevent further lateral movements)
WHAT IF THEY ARE ALREADY INSIDE?
Of course, there is the possibility intruders are already inside your systems. What can be done once they are inside? In this case steps must be taken to limit the access of the intruder. IAM solutions will make sure access is on a least-privilege basis.
A magical solution to prevent cyber attacks does not exist. The best approach is known as defense-in-depth, a concept in which multiple layers of security controls are implemented in the company’s IT systems. This means that when a security layer fails another layer is still in place.
Are you ready to take the next step in your IT-Security and IAM solutions, contact IS4U or register for an IAM Strategy workshop. In this workshop one of our experts will guide you through the complex world of IAM, pinpoint the needs and elaborate the right path to take for your company!
CONCLUSION
3 reasons to put IAM as the center of your IT-Security right now!
- Streamline and create an overview of your identities and authorization life cycles. Make sure you are in control and have oversight at all times.
- Because of the growing number of users, devices and systems. This number will keep on growing over time, which will inevitably lead to privilege creep.
- A security breach can be devastating for your business, your customers and partners. More and more companies fall victim to cybersecurity, often with crippling outcomes.