As your business scales and expands, you adopt new applications and technologies. Every attempt to improve productivity, security, or quality of life will likely add new applications and tools, and before you realize it, your employees are inundated with usernames, passwords, and 2FA codes.
At the same time, your system engineers will be constantly battling to unravel the Gordian knot of security policies, SaaS platforms, access privileges, password resets, and network security. One security slip-up on one application or device can potentially compromise your entire internal network.
The ability of your IT security team to manage access and privilege controls is critical if your business is to scale without compromising security. This is where Identity And Access Management (IAM or IdAM) systems come to the rescue. In this blog post, we will talk about IAM and why it is important for your business.
This blog will answer the following questions:
1. What Is Identity And Access Management (IdAM or IAM)?
Identity and access management, commonly known as IdAM or IAM, is the process of identifying, authenticating, and authorizing access to enterprise resources to keep systems and data secure. It is a foundational security process built on business processes, policies, and technologies that facilitate the management of digital identities.
“The goal of an identity and access management system is to provide the right users with the right access to the right IT resources from the right devices.”
Identity and access management handles issues such as how users gain an identity, the roles assigned to those users, the permissions granted to that identity, and the protection of that identity. In addition to identifying, authenticating, and authorizing individuals who access the company’s IT resources, IAM also validates the hardware and software needed to access, thus adding a layer of security.
2. What is the importance of IAM?
In today’s complex technology landscape, username and password combination simply isn’t secure enough. The username-password authentication method is highly vulnerable because passwords have become less and less secure due to frequent data breaches as well as poor password hygiene.
In order to stay ahead of the curve, you need to incorporate multi-factor authentication, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and risk-based authentication. This can be done easily with an identity and access management solution. Using an IAM solution, you can easily control user access to critical IT resources, apply role-based access controls, and regulate access to systems, applications, and networks from a single platform.
Identity and access management systems provide a solution to the problem of ensuring appropriate access to IT resources in an increasingly heterogeneous environment consisting of disparate applications, technologies, and systems. IdAM is a necessary tool for companies that want to meet elevated security standards or rigorous compliance requirements.
3. What are the components of IAM?
An IAM framework consists of the following components:
1. Authentication
Authentication is the process of verifying that the user is actually who they claim to be. This is generally done using a password, biometrics, or a gesture pattern on a touchscreen. Authentication verifies that the credentials provided by the user are sufficient to gain access to the system or resource.
Once the user is authenticated, a session is created and maintained until the user logs off or is timed out. During the session, a Single-Sign-On service is provided so that the user doesn’t need to log in again for accessing any other applications or resources that are governed under the same IAM framework.
2. Authorization
Authorization is the process of determining what permissions are granted to a particular user. It defines the resources the user has access to and the operations they can perform in the context of each application. Authorization is usually performed by checking the access request made by a user against the authorization policies stored in the IAM.
Authorization is the main component that implements role-based access controls. It can also provide complex access controls based on data such as user roles /groups, actions taken, time, or policies such as business rules.
3. User Management
User management includes the following:
User management,
Password management,
Role or group management, and
User or Group provisioning.
User management governs functions such as the creation of user identity and maintenance of identities and privileges. An important part of user management is user lifecycle management. This enables you to easily manage the lifecycle of a user from onboarding to off-boarding or from provisioning of a resource to de-provisioning.
User management functions are mostly centralized allowing you to effectively manage identities, privileges, and resource allocation. Nevertheless, businesses can also benefit from the self-service concept within user management. For example, using self-service in allowing self-password reset can significantly alleviate the helpdesk workload generated by password reset requests.
4. Central User Repository
The final component of an IAM framework is the Central User Repository, which stores and delivers information to other services. The Central User Repository provides a comprehensive view of the user identities in an organization and delivers information that verifies credentials.
The LDAP version 3 is the most commonly used technology for Central User Repository. It allows effective management of identity data from different user applications and systems. This is typically done by merging the data from different identity sources to create a metadata set. There is usually a 2-way data synchronization that keeps the data in synchronization with other identity sources.
4. What are the benefits of IAM or IdAM for small and medium-sized businesses?
Business value, nowadays, depends on the information assets of an organization. And when a business is able to protect its assets, the value of its business assets improves. Identity and access management provides organizations with the kind of reliability and access control that is imperative to any modern-day business. It is also important for the business to demonstrate their ability to protect their information assets if they are governed by regulatory compliance such as SOC 2 or HIPAA.
In addition, identity and access management solutions enable users, employees, or contractors to conveniently access necessary resources so that they can be productive. At the same time, it allows the organization to monitor and control the access and privileges as defined in their policies and business rules.
While there are many benefits, a few key benefits of implementing IAM are as follows:
1. Improves Security
IAM solutions help identify and mitigate security risks arising from policy violations and inappropriate access privileges. Managing access privileges can be tricky if you have to manage them across different systems and applications. Unbridled access is a huge security risk and on the other hand, too restrictive access hampers productivity and often frustrates your employees. IAM solutions help to strike a balance between security and productivity by allowing you to centrally manage access rights and enforce security policies consistently across the board.
An IAM system can serve as the bedrock of your IT security because it requires you to define access policies, outlining who has access to which resources and under which conditions. This gives you greater control over user access, which translates into a lower risk of internal and external security breaches.
2. Reduces IT Costs
IAM standardizes as well as automates a bulk of the work associated with authentication and authorization. In addition, as we mentioned above, the self-service aspect of IAM also alleviates part of the helpdesk workload. Identity management solutions, therefore, enable administrators to automate the management and authorization of access and reduces password-related calls, minimizing significantly the labor costs associated with such tasks.
3. Helps Achieve Regulatory Compliance
Businesses that use IAM can conveniently and effectively demonstrate their access control policies as well the implementation of those controls. This makes achieving regulatory compliance such as HIPAA and SOC2 much easier.
4. Improves Productivity
By organizing all access policies into a single platform and automating much of the process, IAM reduces the complexities of applying consistent security policy across multiple systems and applications. This makes the adoption of new applications faster and scaling users easier.
With IAM there's no need to memorize and enter multiple passwords to access multiple applications. In addition, businesses can securely provide remote employees, customers, and vendors with access to necessary resources without jeopardizing their network security. This makes it easier for them to access the resources necessary for performing their tasks, improving productivity.
Conclusion
Identity and access management solutions not only enhance security but also business productivity. IAM’s central management capabilities reduce the complexities of access management across multiple applications, reducing the cost of access management and making it easier to meet compliance requirements.
Importantly, it does so without hampering the end-users, i.e. your customers, employees, contractors, etc. In fact, IAM makes it easier for them to access resources whether they are in the office, at home, or on the road, making them more productive.
Is your company looking to improve security as well as productivity in one fell swoop? Click the button below to reach out to us and learn how we can help you implement an Identity And Access Management solution for your business.
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About The Author
Hari SubediMarketing Manager at Jones IT
Hari is an online marketing professional with a focus on content marketing. He writes on topics related to IT, Security, Small Business, and Mindfulness. He is also the founder and managing director of Girivar Kft., a business services company located in Budapest, Hungary.