We explore the pivotal role of identity access management in strengthening cybersecurity. This blog discusses the benefits of IAM and how it is instrumental in preventing data breaches and cyberattacks by controlling user access.
Identity access management (IAM) in cybersecurity is a lot like securing a house — it’s locking your home with a deadbolt and knowing who has the key.
IAM is a centralized way of verifying identification, managing access, and flagging security breaches to guarantee that only the people who should have access to a company’s information can retrieve it. While identity and access management software can verify the identities of people and devices trying to log in and make sure verified users have access to the right resources, IAM processes need to be put into place to safeguard access to these tools, especially during commissioning and decommissioning, is effectively controlled.
After all, if you don’t want someone in your house — why would you leave them with a key?
The Role of IAM in Maintaining a Strong Cybersecurity Posture
While some companies don’t take cybersecurity seriously, with users having access to information simply by logging onto a computer, others realize how important it is to limit access to their systems and do this by requiring employees to use authentication protocols. Like a lock you put on your phone — whether a secret passcode or a fingerprint requirement — the goal is to protect sensitive data and access to private information.
In many cases, businesses use multifactor authentication protocols on critical systems, such as requiring a user to log into their email to get a six-digit code via text message that they can then use to open the system. Depending on their position within the company, businesses can use different layers of cybersecurity IAM to determine who has access to specific information.
Since the use of stolen or compromised credentials remains the most common cause of data breaches, accounting for 19 percent of attack cases, companies must have a robust and effective IAM system.
For example, hackers can breach firewalls when a company doesn’t follow proper IAM policies. Outsiders can obtain sensitive information more easily when a company overlooks the requirement to change user IDs and passwords from the default admin setting.
Monitoring cybersecurity IAM is especially important if your company uses outside vendors to manage different aspects of your business. In the Target data breach, for example, an HVAC vendor employee was installing a new smart air-conditioning system and received access to that system. After he left, his access was not shut off and stayed active for two years, allowing hackers to access the retail giant’s systems.
When implemented properly, two-factor authentication and related technologies can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches, posing less of a financial risk to businesses. Unfortunately, because identity access management is manual, it is very hard to administer — it takes a small army to do it. But this is the key to the kingdom for hackers: If they can access usernames and passwords, or whatever level of authentication a company has, it can put an entire company at risk.
Who is Responsible for Monitoring IAM?
Identity access management is especially significant in provisioning and deprovisioning. When you hire a new employee, knowing what systems they need to access in their current role — CEO, administrative officer, vice president — is important. When companies fire or let go of a current employee for some other reason, it’s paramount to know what they can access after they leave the company.
Your company needs to have a process in place to determine who is responsible for shutting down that person’s access and when it should be done. How many different systems or applications could they access? Are those applications internet-facing? Did they have a single sign-on or separate sign-ons for different systems? Do you need to terminate access for each one?
Not only do companies have hundreds of applications, including client portals, vendor portals, payments systems, account status systems, and more that make it easy for customers to access the information they need, but other institutions like banks and health systems may also run on their own platforms that don’t work with a single sign-on. These internal platforms make managing those identities even more challenging.
It’s so important to identify sensitive data and take an adequate inventory of all a business’s systems. Without that information, how can your company possibly apply identity principles?
Proper internal auditing practices play a central role in IAM protocols as well. After deprovisioning an employee, your auditor may go through 90 days of the company’s termination logs to determine when the company shut off access and to validate they shut it off to every system. The challenge gets deeper if you grant exceptions for former employees, such as access to an unapproved outside site. If you transfer that person’s access to a new hire in that same position, these exceptions can infiltrate the entire corporation.
On the plus side, IAM can improve third-party compliance audits and improve cyber insurance rates, which affect a company’s bottom line.
You Can’t Rely on Software Alone
While many technology solutions can help control IAM, the software is useless if proper procedures are not implemented to monitor its use. SailPoint, for example, can help manage identities, resulting in a comprehensive view of the data that a person has access to. Active Directory (AD), Microsoft’s proprietary directory service, enables administrators to manage permissions and access to network resources.
However, if a company doesn’t have an IAM policy in place for provisioning and deprovisioning, that software won’t make a difference. While SailPoint – or similar solutions – can provide data on when you decommission an employee, and Active Directory can note when you revoked access for an employee, it is up to the person in charge of your IAM to push that button and to do it according to policy. And what about those 19 applications the former employee had access to that Active Directory doesn’t enforce?
Best Practices for Creating an IAM Policy
While most IAM teams within a corporation fall under its security department, the internal audit department may also manage them. Companies may have dozens of people who manage, validate and control identity and issue regular, data-driven reports based on standard operating procedures and policies.
While each person is responsible for specific tasks, following best practices for identity and access management is a company-wide responsibility. These include:
- Creating multifactor authentication (MFA) protocols.
- Granting users only the permissions they need to perform a task, and no more, restricting access and permissions without interfering with workflow. This process is also known as principle of least privilege (PoLP).
- Using passwords that are easy to remember but difficult to guess or crack.
- Using user groups to specify permissions for a group of users, which can make permissions easier to manage.
- Assuming no one is trustworthy to preserve the integrity of information assets.
- Creating more fine-grained access control policies based on specific attributes of a request, such as the source IP address, time of day, or presence of MFA.
- Reviewing all access rights within the organization on a recurring basis to verify access is still valid and necessary for a role.
Conclusion
Creating a robust IAM system requires understanding how breaches happen. Many companies, especially those whose system administrators come from a systems-driven environment, feel they are perfectly safe because they have Active Directory or another IAM product. They do not realize that without the right processes in place, they are still at risk.
While all of these tools can help manage IAM, controlling identity access management still requires a team of people. Businesses must prioritize adopting and maintaining an effective IAM system for improved cybersecurity and a safer, more secure future.
User access management isn’t a one-and-done step within your organization. We look at the dangers of user access complacency and how you can combat it.
You know you need to protect your brand and financial stability by prioritizing cybersecurity. But do you know where to start? Our Cybersecurity team is ready to help you focus on everything from strategy development to penetration testing.
