Access Management

The second reason is an improved IAM functionality.

In the last decade, technology in all industries has taken leaps and the IGA industry is no exception. Twenty years ago, the industry intended to aid the role of the System and Network Administrators. Today, IGA has now evolved into a multi-departmental aid, with the helpdesk, HR Department, IT department and management all reaping the benefits.

Take our Identity-as-a-Service product for example. It offers automation, access governance, password management, helpdesk delegation, role-based access control, reporting, and self-service. These features not only create a lean infrastructure that eliminates many, and in some cases all, manual efforts, but they also reduce errors and streamline the workflow. IAM offers a central port for all departments to access and input information and report on the latter as they please.

Regulations such as HIPAA, FERPA, SOX, and NCES 97-859 have put pressure on organizations to implement safeguards against wrongful access of private information. Organizations also face an increasing number of quality requirements from their customers, such as ISO 27001.

These requirements have led to organizations seeking solutions such as password management, two-factor authentication, and role-based access control to ensure that each person has the correct access—no more, no less.

During the employment relationship, the authorizations should be managed correctly. When the employment relationship ends, accesses and authorizations should be withdrawn promptly and completely. Incorrect management of user credentials leads to unnecessary costs in many organizations. For example, an organization is at high risk of a breach if after a change of department, a project’s end, or a resignation, the organization fails to cut off access to licenses, storage capacity, and other IT resources that are no longer needed.

To meet such stringent requirements, each user should only have access to the data they need to perform activities according to the so-called “Principle of Least Use.”

Our solutions are fully compliant with the prevailing norms and standards and can assist your organization in adhering to strict data privacy laws. With an IAM solution, your IT department knows that access to systems and applications is secured properly. In addition, our solutions offer auditing functionality that provides complete transparency on which users are using which applications, at what time, and from what location.

Organizations are not only tasked with providing secure access to applications and resources, but also face the responsibility of correctly managing access rights. In addition, users need access to new applications and data regularly.

One of the most unnoticed security risks an organization can face stems from employees acquiring too many access rights because of role or responsibility changes. This is called “privilege creep.” In addition to this security risk, expensive licenses often continue to run undiscovered for a long period of time. This can also happen when former employees possess access to their old accounts, even after they leave the organization or position. These “abandoned accounts” are also known as orphaned accounts.

By implementing an IAM solution, organizations can fully automate user management and access to various systems, applications, and information. Account information and access rights are automatically kept up-to-date so that security audits are easy to complete and you can save on unnecessary license costs. User account lifecycle processes are executed rapidly to create, update, and deactivate users accordingly.

Organizations typically have a large number of profiles that the IT department is responsible for monitoring. Without a centralized IAM solution, the authentication and authorization of access to resources are usually managed manually by the IT department. Not only is this expensive and unproductive, but it is often prone to potential human-error and oversight.

By automating the entire process and linking it to your source systems, your IT department will no longer need to manually manage access rights to data. Changes are implemented immediately and without errors in the network. As a result, IT employees spend less time on routine matters and have more time to work on impactful projects for your organization.

It can be very time-consuming for your employees if they have to repeatedly enter a username and password to access different applications and resources.

With a fully-fledged Identity & Access Management solution, your IT department can automatically manage user accounts and employees can receive quick and easy access to their resources via Single Sign-On (SSO). With SSO, your employees can receive access to all their applications and data via a personal dashboard by only logging in once.

In addition, our solutions offer an SSO authentication method where your employees or students can log in using a QR code that can be attached to a badge. By simply holding it in front of their device’s camera, they are automatically logged in to their account.

You can finally ensure that everyone has the tools and resources they need to succeed in their job without complications.

User accounts require continual checking and adjustment to account for promotions, reorganizations, new locations, and other role changes. Therefore, IAM systems oversee an organization’s entirety of user account lifecycles for every employee throughout their employment.

Such comprehensive management requires streamlined, secure processes for:

• Onboarding: Initial creation, provisioning, and user account claiming for new hires
• “Reprovisioning”: Updating and reviewing user access rights
• Offboarding: Deactivating user accounts and restricting access when an employee departs the organization

IAM processes help ensure that employees can access the resources they need to work efficiently while minimizing security and compliance risks.

An organization cannot function without Identity Management. If access and permissions to your systems and data are not properly protected and managed, the business is put at risk in terms of data security, compliance, and organizational efficiency.

If your employees lack proper access and permissions to the organization’s systems and data, they simply cannot do their jobs or do them less efficiently. The organization’s goals would be compromised.

Many companies have most of their data and business processes (email, CRM, etc.) in the cloud. The easiest way for hackers to get to these assets is through legitimate employee logins. This is why cybercriminals actively go after credentials to assume a legitimate user identity and breach a system.

Accordingly, credential compromise has become the leading cause of data breaches, with 80% of data breaches being tied to stolen privileged credentials and 77% of cloud account breaches being due to credential theft.

Management is responsible for the proper use and security of data for customers, products, finances, or personnel. After all, this data is one of your organization’s most important assets. Therefore, access to this data should be well thought out and organized. A loss of data could result in significant financial damage or, at best, a loss of image.

Data loss due to ransomware is particularly costly, and no size company is safe. Ransomware is now being sold to those that do not even know how to write code through Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) platforms. This puts even more companies of all sizes at risk.

Between 2020 and 2021, ransomware remediation costs more than doubled, jumping from $761,106 to $1.85 million per incident.