FAQs on Identity and Access Management
Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a framework of business processes, policies, technologies, and strategies that help manage user identities and regulate user access.
The IAM framework incorporates three essential concepts, Identify, Authenticate and Authorize, which collectively ensure the right access to the right user at the right time for the right reasons.
It encompasses various technologies such as Single Sign-On (SSO), profile management, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and password management.
IAM’s importance can be easily fathomed from the recent cybersecurity reports, which revealed that 81% of the data breaches are due to either week or mismanaged user credentials.
Tracking or Regulating user information, whether email addresses or passwords, can quickly become a complex issue without a proper control system.
IAM helps protect against cybersecurity breaches by allowing IT admins to standardize and automate critical aspects of managing user identities, authentication and authorization.
One of the most misconceptions in the IT world is that identity management and access management are the same.
They are not!
- Identity management relates to authenticating users. It is about establishing user identity and managing the attributes.
- Access management relates to authorizing users. It is about evaluating the attributes based on policies and making access to grant/restrict decisions.
The aspects/factors driving the adoption of IAM systems vary with the type of industry such as Finance, Healthcare and Government.
Some of the standard business drivers that led to the adoption of IAM systems across various organizations are as follows
- Compliance: According to a recent report, 33% of surveyed organizations adopted IAM to improve regulatory compliance
- Operational Efficiency: 36% of organizations adopted IAM to detect better things like credential thefts, remote access, and illegitimate account provisioning
- Business Enablement: 33% of organizations adopted IAM to provide more applications and services to end-users
- Cybersecurity: 8% of respondents cited cybersecurity as key IAM priority
Identity and access management offers various security solutions including Single Sign-On (SSO), profile management, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and password management.
With these technologies, IAM promises IT businesses improved user experience, enhanced security, improved regulatory compliance, reduced IT operating costs, and centralized access control, among other business benefits.
Many disciplines fall under the umbrella of IT security. Identity and Access Management is critically important in terms of network security business tactics to protect sensitive information.
In granting access to users, and subsequently managing them for adequate security, IAM has become paramount in the day-to-day business operations.
Identity and access management is a cybersecurity discipline that ensures that the right users have right access to the right resources depending on their roles and responsibilities.
The banking and financial sector is one of the first to see their organizations adopt IAM solutions alongside healthcare.
The digital transformation in the BFSI sector is propelling the rapid adoption of IAM solutions to mitigate identity fraud, unauthorized access, and malicious cyberattacks.
Moreover, the increased regulatory compliances that oversee the financial industry has boosted the adoption of IAM.
As the cybersecurity landscape is evolving rapidly, the businesses need to ensure full-fledged identity and access management across the growing IT infrastructure.
However, implementing a successful IAM program is challenging as every organization has unique needs and tolerances to risk. But there are some fundamental best practices to master IAM at organizations of all sizes and industries.
Eight Identity and Access Management Best Practices:
- Enforce strong passwords
- Use Multifactor authentication (MFA)
- Centralize both identity and access management
- Remove or deactivate orphaned accounts
- Implement zero-trust security
- Automate onboarding process
- Implement role-based access control
- Follow the principle of least privilege
Veritis is one of the early adopters of Identity and Access Management (IAM) services in the US IT industry. Veritis IAM portfolio includes a wide range of solutions and services backed by strong subject matter expertise and industry benchmark standards.
Offerings under Veritis IAM Solutions include Identity and Access Management, Compliance and Identity Management Readiness (CIMR), and Privileged Access Management (PAM).
Offerings under Veritis IAM Services include IAM Strategy Development, IAM Program and Roles Assessment, CIMR Analysis, Evaluation and Validation, Technology Decision-making, Implementation and Integration, and IAM Program Governance.
Owing to the rise in cyber threats and the need to protect the user and organizational data, IAM solutions are crucial for every business.
Veritis IAM Services and Solutions offers a wide range of business benefits, including Improved Security, Data Confidentiality, Enhanced Performance, Effective Task Segregation, User Satisfaction, and Right Technology Decision-making.