Identity and Access Management

HBA

Identity and access management solutions

Employees must have access to the apps, files, and data stored by their company, regardless of where they are located. The bulk of employees used to work on-site, behind a firewall, where corporate resources were stored in the old fashion. When workers arrived on site and logged in, they could access the necessary resources.

However, employees require secure access to company resources whether they work remotely or on-site because hybrid work is more frequent than ever. Identity and access management, or IAM, is useful in this situation. The IT department of the company requires a mechanism to manage user access so that private information and features are only available to those who need to utilize them.

IAM provides approved entities with secure access to company resources (emails, databases, data, and apps) with the least amount of interference possible. Managing access is intended to allow the correct personnel to carry out their duties while preventing unauthorized individuals, such as hackers, from entering.

Secure access is necessary for more than just staff members using company computers. Contractors, suppliers, business associates, and individuals using their own devices are also included. IAM ensures that the appropriate level of access is granted to the appropriate person on the appropriate machine at the appropriate time. IAM is an essential component of contemporary IT because of this and the part it plays in an organization’s cybersecurity.

Every time an access attempt is made, the company may promptly and precisely confirm an individual’s identity and that they are authorized to use the requested resource thanks to an Identity and Access Management (IAM) system.

How IAM functions

Identity management and access management work together to provide safe access to an organization’s resources.

An identity management database, which is a running list of all authorized users, is consulted when evaluating a login attempt. As people join or leave the organization, their projects and roles change, and the organization’s scope changes, this information needs to be updated regularly.

An identity management database may contain the following types of data: personal email addresses, mobile phone numbers, managers, direct reports, and personnel names and job titles. Authentication is the process of verifying a user’s identification in the database by matching their login details, such as their username and password.

Many companies employ multifactor authentication (MFA) to authenticate users’ identities to increase security. MFA, sometimes referred to as two-factor authentication (2FA) or two-way verification, is more secure than utilizing just a password and username. It includes an additional step in the login process where the user needs to utilize a different verification method to confirm their identity. Personal email addresses and cell phone numbers are examples of these authentication techniques.

The second component of IAM is access management. Access management maintains track of which resources an individual or object has authorization to access once the IAM system has confirmed that the person or thing trying to access it matches their identity. The majority of firms offer different degrees of access to data and resources, and these levels are based on things like project, tenure, job title, and security clearance.

Authorization is the process of granting the appropriate degree of access once a user’s identification has been verified. Ensuring proper and secure authentication and authorization for every access attempt is the aim of Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems.

IAM's significance for organizations

IAM is crucial to cybersecurity because it assists an organization’s IT department in finding the ideal balance between limiting access to particular services and vital data while leaving the majority of users unable to access them. Controls that provide safe access to workers and their equipment while making it difficult or impossible for others to enter are made feasible by IAM.

The fact that fraudsters are always improving their techniques is another reason IAM is crucial. One of the most frequent causes of hacking and data breaches is sophisticated attacks, such as phishing emails, which target users who already have access. Managing who and what has access to an organization’s systems is challenging without Identity and Access Management (IAM).

Because it’s challenging to determine who has access and to remove access from a compromised user, breaches and attacks can occur often.

Although there is no such thing as flawless security, IAM solutions are a great method to stop and lessen the effects of attacks. In the event of a breach, many IAM systems are AI-enabled and able to identify and stop attacks before they become more serious issues, as opposed to limiting access for everyone.