It’s every business owner’s worst nightmare: Suddenly, employees can no longer access the company’s computer systems. When they try to log in, they receive a message demanding payment to unlock their data. At the same time, necessary business files seem to disappear from the system entirely.
When this happens, businesses have to act quickly to secure their systems and take the right steps to regain access without breaching compliance regulations or losing customer trust. It can be a tough scenario to overcome. Thankfully, businesses can avoid this potentially devastating scenario by implementing proper identity and access management (IAM) measures.
What Is Identity and Access Management?
Identity and access management (IAM) is a term used to describe the business processes, technologies, and policies that manage digital identities. It can be used by a business’s IT leaders to control who can access their organization’s most sensitive information. Companies can enjoy an additional layer of security by controlling which categories of employees can access specific types of data or applications.
Although IAM sounds like it may be a complicated undertaking, its complexity depends on the business’s needs; it is often surprisingly straightforward. However, when an organization has teams consisting of people from numerous departments who all have unique roles, assigning specific permissions to each individual according to their role can require a lot of fine-tuning.
Nevertheless, IAM efforts are worthwhile because they make it harder for outside parties to access, change, or steal sensitive data. In addition, they help businesses monitor their employees’ activities. This can help identify suspicious communications or transactions as well as mistakes that might have gone undetected otherwise.
The Importance of Proper IAM Measures
Here is a closer look at why identity and access management are essential for modern organizations.
It Makes Business More Efficient
While IAM is often thought of in terms of keeping cyber criminals out and letting employees in, there is another important component of IAM systems that can help businesses be more efficient and secure in their digital endeavors: providing access for outside parties such as business partners, remote users, customers, and contractors.
The proper IAM system can ensure that the business’s digital landscape operates smoothly across various user types. As a result, employees can work seamlessly from wherever they happen to be.
It Improves Data Security
IAM is considered an essential cybersecurity measure that can help organizations reduce data breaches, control access to sensitive information, and reduce identity theft while ensuring authorized users can access the information they need to do their work.
From stopping the spread of malware to protecting a business’s financial accounts, the data security provided by identity access and management services is extremely valuable.
It Enhances Data Confidentiality
Data confidentiality has become a significant concern for modern businesses. The need to keep certain types of information private is growing even more pressing as companies collect increasing amounts of data from all their users and store it digitally. IAM tools offer a secure method of granting access to authorized parties while entirely restricting others.
It Supports Regulatory Compliance
IAM can also help a business stay compliant with regulatory requirements. Laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) all dictate specific requirements regarding user authentication methods that can be addressed with identity access and management services.
User Authentication Types
The most important function of IAM is user authentication, and modern solutions use various methods to ensure that access remains secure yet convenient.
Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
Multifactor authentication is becoming increasingly popular for online accounts. It provides an extra layer of protection by requiring users to supply two or more verification factors before gaining access.
For example, after correctly entering their username and password, users may be prompted to enter a temporary code sent via text message to their phone before they can gain access.
Risk-Based Authentication (RBA)
With risk-based authentication, the degree of authentication required depends on the amount of risk the system perceives. For example, in standard use cases, a name and password may be acceptable, but a system might require users to undergo multifactor authentication at times when it believes the risks may be higher.
This may be defined as, for example, situations where a user’s IP address puts them in a different location than the one from which they usually sign on. While this could be due to something innocuous, such as a user checking work emails on vacation, IP address variations might also indicate that a cybercriminal overseas is attempting to gain access.
Learn More About Identity & Access Management From Advantage Technology
Are your organization’s systems secure enough to withstand the savviest cybercriminals? The knowledgeable team at Advantage Technology can assess your business’s unique requirements and develop IAM solutions that are tailored to offer optimal security. Contact us today to request a consultation.
