What is an Access Risk?

Access Risk in Identity Governance and Administration

Access Risk in Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) refers to the potential threats or vulnerabilities to organizational identity security that emerge because of improper or excessive access to systems, data, or resources in an IT infrastructure. It focuses on identifying and managing situations where users (employees, contractors, partners, vendors, and applications) have inappropriate permissions that could lead to security breaches, data leaks, fraud, or compliance violations.

The Key Aspects of Access Risk

Any scenario listed below may be characterized as an Access Risk:

Excessive Permissions

Organizations that do not follow the principle of least privilege allow users to have more access rights to systems and resources than are necessary for them to perform their job functions. An example of excessive permissions would be an organization allowing an employee on the HR team to have access to financial systems without justification.

Segregation of Duties (SoD) Violations

Conflicts surface when a single user has access to multiple job roles that should be separated to prevent fraud or errors. An employee having the capacity to both approve payments and modify vendor bank account details would be an example of this type of Access Risk.

Orphan Accounts

Accounts that remain active even after an employee leaves the organization, potentially leading to misuse.

Dormant or Unused Accounts

Accounts that are no longer in use and still exist in the system. If the accounts were to be compromised, this would pose a security risk to the organization.

Unauthorized Access

Granting access to unauthorized users, either unintentionally or due to tools misconfiguration.

Privileged Access Misuse

Users with elevated permissions abusing their access for unauthorized actions.

Non-Compliance Risks

Failure to enforce user access policies can lead to violations of regulatory frameworks like SOX, GDPR, HIPAA, etc.

Strategies to Manage Access Risk

Organizations can use a range of approaches within their IGA solution to manage Access Risk in their IT architectures. These include:

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

This method refers to the restriction of access to parts of a business network based on a person’s defined role within an organization. Effective RBAC enables organizations to grant users access only to the resources necessary to perform their roles, whether that is based on their department, seniority, title, or some other criteria.

Periodic Access Reviews

This process ensures that users’ access rights remain appropriate and aligned with their current roles. Organizations can build on periodic access reviews by establishing feedback mechanisms for users and administrators to report issues or suggest improvements to their IGA framework.

Segregation of Duties (SoD) Enforcement

Deploy an internal control mechanism that enables the division of tasks and responsibilities among multiple individuals to reduce the risk of error, fraud, or malicious activity. This ensures that no single individual has control over all aspects of any critical process, thereby engaging fraud prevention and limiting opportunities for mistakes or intentional wrongdoing.

Automated Provisioning and De-provisioning

Managing the entire lifecycle of user, machine, and AI-generated identities within an organization dramatically mitigates Access Risk. This includes processes and policies to initiate, maintain, and delete user identities securely and efficiently. This ensures effective control over user onboarding (provisioning), changes, and offboarding (de-provisioning).

Access Certification Campaigns

Mandated reviews, attestations, or re-certifications enable managers and system owners to periodically validate information held in the IGA system. Modern IGA solutions offer both out-of-the-box certification campaigns and customizable options that enable administrators to define their own processes.

Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Users with enhanced permissions are prime targets for attackers due to their extensive access to vital systems and sensitive data. PAM enables administrators to effectively control, monitor, and protect accounts with privileged status and mitigate this risk.

Where to Learn More and Get Help

By addressing Access Risk effectively, organizations can improve security posture, enforce compliance, and reduce vulnerabilities associated with identity governance and administration.

Omada has developed and defined best practices for managing Access Risk in IdentityPROCESS+. Following IdentityPROCESS+ enables organizations to control the granting of access rights and manage risk while ensuring that they do not violate any security and compliance policies such as SoD. Learn more.