The Basics of Identity and Access Governance

17 August 2022

In our increasingly digital world, safeguarding user identities and access levels is more important than ever before. With cybercrime and hacking cases on the rise, keeping your organization’s data secure from potential intruders becomes a burning concern. The chances of having your system hacked are pretty high if you don’t have any security protocols in place.

Identity and access management (IAM) governance helps organizations manage user identity and access privileges by implementing policies to restrict user access to data and other resources. Read on to know more about this important concept.

What is Identity and Access Governance?

Identity and access governance (IAM) governs all activities related to managing user identities and permissions within an organization. IAM systems help organizations manage user identities by managing identities, user accounts, and access privileges, ensuring that users are only able to access the information and systems they need to do their work.

Identity and access management systems help organizations leverage the benefits of centralizing user account and identity management, while granting users access to necessary resources only when they need it. Today’s IAM systems such as Okta, SailPoint, Ilantus are amongst the few SaaS solutions that are easy to scale, adaptable to change, and provide a flexible administrative model that can support the continuous flow of employees in and out of organizations.

The IAM system that an organization chooses should be scalable and able to grow with the organization. It must be easy to use and have a user-friendly interface that provides information about each user and the access privileges assigned to them.

Why is Identity and Access Governance Important?

Identity and access governance is important for businesses because it enables organizations to protect their digital assets, meet compliance requirements, comply with data security standards, and avoid data breaches that can lead to reputational damage and financial loss.

Identity and access management (IAM) governance helps organizations manage user identity and access privileges by implementing policies to restrict user access to data and other resources.

The basic components of Identity and Access Governance (IAG) include:

1. 1. Identity Management: This involves creating and managing digital identities for users within an organization. It includes creating user accounts, assigning roles and permissions, and managing user credentials such as passwords and security tokens.
      
      
   2. Access Management: This involves managing access to resources and data within an organization based on the user’s identity and the policies defined by the organization. It includes granting, revoking, or modifying access to resources as required.
      
      
   3. Governance: This involves monitoring and auditing access to resources and data within an organization to ensure compliance with organizational policies, industry regulations, and legal requirements. It includes identifying and addressing potential security risks and vulnerabilities and ensuring that access is granted on a need-to-know basis.
      
      
   4. Compliance: This involves ensuring that the organization’s Identity and Access Governance policies and practices comply with relevant industry regulations and legal requirements.

How to Achieve Effective IAM Governance?

The best way to achieve effective IAM governance is by choosing the right IAM system to secure your organization’s digital assets. There are various IAM solutions available in the market, so you will have to find the one that best meets your organization’s needs.

Once you have decided on the IAM system, you can follow these tips to achieve effective IAM governance:

• Define your organization’s identity and access management goals:

Before implementing an IAM system, you must first identify your organization’s goals for implementing an IAM system. What do you hope to achieve by installing an IAM system? What is your organization trying to protect? By identifying your organization’s goals for IAM governance, you can determine which IAM solution is best suited for your organization.

• Understand your organization’s culture and policies:

Before selecting an IAM system, you must understand your organization’s culture and policies related to managing identities and permissions. What type of information is sensitive or confidential? Which parts of the organization are permitted to access which types of information?

• Analyse your organization’s current IAM landscape:

It is important to analyse your current IAM landscape before implementing a new IAM system. What type of IAM system do you currently have in place? Are there any shortcomings in your current IAM system? It is important to understand the functionalities of your current IAM system before you go ahead and select a new IAM system. It will help you avoid making the mistake of choosing a new IAM system that is not compatible with your current system.

Benefits of Installing an IAM System

• Simplifies the user onboarding process: An IAM system simplifies the user onboarding process by helping admins create user accounts, assign permissions to those accounts, and integrate third-party credentials.
• Creates a standardized identity management process: An IAM system creates a standardized identity management process by helping admins assign standardized permissions to standardized user accounts.
• Increases visibility into user identities and permissions: An IAM system increases visibility into user identities and permissions by helping admins create user accounts, assign permissions to those accounts, and manage third-party credentials.
• Improves auditability of user identities and permissions: An IAM system helps improve auditability of user identities and permissions by tracking user account creation and assignment of permissions.
• Helps organizations comply with data security standards: An IAM system helps organizations comply with data security standards by restricting employee access to sensitive data.
  
  

Conclusion

Identity and access governance is the process of managing user identities and access privileges to ensure the privacy and security of data across the organization. Organizations implement IAM systems to simplify the user onboarding process and create a standardized identity management process to increase visibility into user identities and permissions. An IAM system also helps organizations comply with data security standards, improve auditability of user identities and permissions, and avoid data breaches that can lead to reputational damage and financial loss.

Are you looking to get IAM implemented to manage and secure the data of your organization? Contact us and we can assist you with securing your company’s data.