What is Identity and Access Management?

What is Identity and Access Management?

Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a security and business discipline that encompasses many technologies and business processes to help the right people or machines get access to the assets they need when they need them to perform their roles. IAM enables organizations to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems, applications, and data. It enables organizations to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements and helps to mitigate cybersecurity incidents like insider threats and data breaches.

IAM is also a technology framework of identity management policies and business processes that enable organizations to manage human and digital identities in a way that ensures security without impeding efficiency. An effective IAM solution makes it possible for identity and access security management practitioners in any organization to manage user access to assets and applications across their environment. Multifactor authentication (MFA), privileged access management (PAM), and Single Sign-On (SSO) are components of a comprehensive IAM strategy. In addition to ensuring identity authentication, the components of an IAM solution enable IT teams to store identity and profile data securely and ensure that users have access only to the data they require to fulfill their roles. Many organizations host IAM systems they have developed on-premises, others use cloud-hosted third-party SaaS solutions, some deploy a hybrid model that uses both. In any case, an IAM solution should enable identity and access security management practitioners to see how their system identifies users, on-board and off-board users as their roles change, secure sensitive data, and protect data in the event of a security breach.

Components of an Identity and Access Management Framework

Identity Management Tools

These include a centralized user identity repository that stores and manages user identities (e.g., employee, vendor, contractor, etc.) and automated tools for creating (provisioning), updating, and deleting (de-provisioning) user accounts and credentials. Also, directory services like LDAP, Active Directory, or cloud-based directories to manage identities and resources.

Authentication Solutions

These are used verify user identities, such as passwords, biometrics, tokens, or smart cards. Also, tools like MFA that add layers of security by requiring multiple forms of verification and SSO that enables users to access multiple systems with one set of credentials.

Access Management Tools

Access management tools include Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) that assign permissions based on roles within the organization and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) that grant access based on user attributes, environmental conditions, and policies. Also, a least privilege principle that ensures users have the minimum access necessary to perform their duties and Just-in-Time (JIT) access functionality to temporarily grants access to resources as needed.

Access and Compliance Policy Management Mechanisms

A robust Identity and Access Management framework should include management mechanisms that determine who can access what resources and under what conditions, enforce policies to prevent unauthorized access and maintain audit trails, and ensure adherence to legal, regulatory, and organizational standards.

Credential Management Tools

Primarily used for enforcing strong password policies and periodic changes, tools for the secure handling of cryptographic keys used for access and authentication and managing digital certificates for secure communication and authentication.

Monitoring and Auditing Capabilities

In order to track who accessed what resources and when, identify suspicious activity or policy violations in close to real time and perform periodic reviews to ensure compliance and identify potential vulnerabilities.

Federated Identity Management Tools

These are used to enable users to access resources across multiple organizations using a single identity and ensure compatibility with other systems, such as cloud providers or external partners.

Identity Lifecycle Management Tools

Are used to seamlessly onboard and integrate new identities into the system, synchronize across multiple systems to manage identities consistently, and securely offboard identities after they leave the organization.

Incident Response and Recovery Capabilities

Precise response and recovery capabilities are crucial to quickly disable access in response to threats or breaches and ensure the availability of IAM data and configurations in case of failure or compromise.

Education and Awareness Programs

These programs are meant to inform users about best practices for passwords, phishing risks, and secure behavior and help them understand their responsibilities in the enforcement of IAM policies.

Principal Benefits of Identity and Access Management

Enhanced Security

Access control tools ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive resources and reduce the risk of unauthorized access. Authentication tools add additional layers of security to prevent credential theft. Real-time access monitoring and logging help identify and mitigate suspicious activities.

Better Compliance and Governance

Audit trails provide detailed records of user access and actions for internal reviews and external audits. This ensures consistent application of access policies across systems.

Increased Efficiency

Centralized management provides a single interface for managing user identities and permissions across multiple systems to simplify administration. Automation of provisioning, de-provisioning, and password resets saves time and reduces errors. Scalability enables organizations to accommodate changes in workforce size, cloud environments, or partner ecosystems.

More User-Friendly

SSO eliminates reduces friction for users and improves productivity. Self-service portals enable users to manage their own profiles without IT support. New users get access to the resources they need so they can get up to speed faster.

Easier Integration

Provides secure access across multiple platforms, whether on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid to deliver consistent security and access management.

Where to Learn More

An identity fabric — the organization’s IAM infrastructure —includes a blend of modular IAM tools for hybrid and multi-cloud environments, supports any human or machine identity, provides advanced analytics, and supports standards-based identity integrations.

Omada’s Governance for Identity Fabric ensures compliance regulations are met, security around identity is maintained and efficiency of joiner-mover-leaver identity workflows are maximized.

Learn how Omada can help.