Overview
Security has become the need of the hour as threat actors are bringing MNCs and conglomerates to their knees. With sky-high ransom demands and reputation loss, companies have much to lose. As per an estimate, a data breach brought an unwanted average bill of USD 4.24 million for private cloud infrastructure firms and USD 5.02 million for public cloud infrastructure companies. The demand for reliable security solutions surged as threat actors became unwantedly productive with their hacks.
Client Profile
The client is a multinational firm with a firm footing in manufacturing and operates out of Texas. The client started its operations in the mid-90s’ and has leveraged technology to innovate. With its vast global footprint, the client housed numerous employees and dealt with various business partners daily. Enforcing data protection was pertinent as the client housed enormous amounts of proprietary data, and its IT-integrated infrastructure was a potential target for threat actors. To avoid unwanted circumstances, the client contacted Veritis to deliver a robust security solution to protect its data from insider and external threats.
Client Requirements
The client expressed its requirements, which ranged from a data protection policy to access management. As the client used multiple tools and software suites, managing permissions for many employees became a Herculean task. Additionally, the swift revocation of privileges for exiting employees was another requirement from the client. Lastly, the authentication process for the access was to be reliable without being a hindrance to access.
Challenges Faced by the Client
1) Complex Data Protection Needs
The client needed a robust data protection policy to secure vast amounts of proprietary data within its global IT infrastructure. The challenge was safeguarding sensitive information from internal and external threats and ensuring data integrity and security across multiple locations and platforms.
2) Managing Access Across Diverse Tools and Platforms
With numerous tools and software suites, managing access permissions for many employees became increasingly complex. The client faced difficulties efficiently granting, monitoring, and revoking access rights, leading to potential security vulnerabilities and administrative overhead.
3) Swift Revocation of Access for Exiting Employees
The client struggled with the timely revocation of access privileges for employees who left the company. Any delay in revoking access rights posed significant security risks, potentially allowing unauthorized access to sensitive information and systems even after an employee’s departure.
4) Ensuring Secure Yet Seamless Access
The client needed a secure authentication process that did not hinder workflow efficiency. Balancing strong security measures with ease of access was challenging, as overly restrictive protocols could disrupt day-to-day operations, while lenient policies could expose the system to threats.
Solutions Implemented by Veritis
1) Robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) Strategy
Veritis developed a comprehensive IAM strategy tailored to the client’s needs, focusing on data protection and access management. This approach included defining clear access policies and permissions based on job roles, ensuring that employees only had access to the tools and information necessary for their roles.
2) Principle of Least Privilege
The IAM solution was built on the ‘Principle of Least Privilege,’ granting employees the minimum access required for their job functions. This minimized the risk of unauthorized access and reduced the potential attack surface for threat actors, effectively protecting sensitive data.
3) Automated Access Management and Revocation
Veritis implemented automated processes for managing employee access, including granting, monitoring, and swiftly revoking privileges as needed. The solution provided easy access rights management, ensuring that permissions were automatically rescinded when an employee exited the company, reducing the risk of insider threats.
4) Enhanced Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
To ensure secure access without compromising user experience, Veritis integrated comprehensive Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) into the IAM solution. This provided an additional layer of security by requiring multiple forms of verification, ensuring that only authorized personnel could access critical systems and data while maintaining seamless workflow continuity.
Veritis Approach
Veritis appreciated the client’s timely requirements. With the client being a well-known innovator in its field, deploying a sound IAM strategy was pertinent before the client fell prey to a threat actor. One of the challenges was that the client relied on manufacturing infrastructure, and the access management had to support the infrastructure.
Veritis comprehended the client’s operational structure and ensured the appropriate permission access to various employee segments. These permissions were granted based on their job roles and what software suites they needed to complete their work. This segmentation allowed Veritis to avoid unwanted pitfalls while helming the strategy.
To ensure maximum safety, Veritis built the IAM solution on the ‘Principle of Least Privilege,’ which advocates that no user should have access to anything beyond the required resources. The principle reduces the potential gaps for threat actors and stunts the chances of malware infections.
Benefits to Client
The client walked away with more than a handful of benefits as Veritis’ IAM strategy continued to work effectively. Listed below are the benefits that the solution brought along:
- Bettered protection of data.
- Easy management of privileges.
- Automated file access to employees based on designation levels.
- Access to suites instead of piecemeal access to individual tools.
- Rescindable privileges option provided.
- Comprehensive Multi-Factor Authentication was included in the solution.
- Revocation of access rights soon after employee exit.
Overall Business Value Delivered
Identity and Access Management is an essential strategy companies must adopt to stay protected from threat actors. Despite the innumerable profiles, the implemented IAM solution allowed the client to manage access and restrict control after any personnel left the company. One should take stock of the unpleasant observation that every insider breach brought an average loss of USD 15.38 million. Since the IAM solution was deployed, the client never encountered a breach and went on to ring in profits. With market performance vindicating the IAM solution’s performance, it is cognizable that Veritis made an invaluable addition to the client.