Overview
Identity and Access Management (IAM) technology is an indispensable tool for building the foundation for Zero Trust security and critical for ensuring workforce and IT administrative experience. Therefore, it is important to align IAM technology with the latest trends in IT security, necessary to meet the emerging needs and use case requirements.
While ARCON organizes mindshare programs all over the world with its esteemed customers and partners to understand emerging needs, active participation and interaction at global conferences paves the way to learn, observe, and understand new demands, trends, and expectations from security and risk management leaders.
Having taken part in some of the biggest events like Gartner Security and Risk Management summits, GISEC event, KuppingerCole’s European Identity Cloud conference among many others, ARCON has identified the top five trends that are shaping the future of IAM technology.
Let us delve deeper into it.
(I) Convergence of IAM
Technological convergence is all about integration, merging or blending of two or multiple technologies to create a new product. It can replace single-function technologies and provide an alternative product offering.
It offers convenience to users and admins, saves time, and energy. For business owners, understanding technological convergence can increase their organization’s competitiveness.
The convergence of Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a significant trend in the cybersecurity landscape today. It matters a lot to both the enterprises and vendors because of –
- Blurring Boundaries: Extensive remote workforce and cloud adoption has blurred the lines between ordinary users and highly privileged users. As a result, practices from PAM are migrating to IAM space creating demands for mergers. SRM leaders want a single pane of glass for administering IAM, PAM, IGA, MFA and SSO use cases.
- Enhanced Controls: IAM solutions now rigorously monitor user activity, enforce least privilege principles, and experiment with just-in-time access. So why not just merge with PAM?
- Mandatory Authentication: One of the top security and monitoring features of PAM – Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is becoming a standard in IAM deployments resulting in mergers.
- Zero Standing Privileges: Some IAM implementations grant no permanent special permissions, ensuring all access to sensitive areas is just-in-time (JIT) access.
ARCON solution: Converged Identity
(II) Endpoint Privilege Security
The endpoint security is no longer confined to detecting malware on endpoint but also to controlling and monitoring endpoint privileges. The attack surface increases significantly if there are no role and rule-based controls to regularize access to business-critical applications from endpoints. The challenge increases since the rising number of remote workforce access applications and cloud resources outside the perimeter of an organization. Against this backdrop, SRM leaders are looking to complement PAM with an added layer of Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM) security.
ARCON solution: Endpoint Privilege Management
(III) Hassle-free On-boarding/ Deboarding for Privileged Accounts
It is a common administrative process to create privileged accounts and onboard privileged identities whenever necessary. However, managing these privileged accounts has been challenging due to the proliferation of the number of privileged accounts. Reasons like “domino” effect or shift of jobs (transfer), or new use cases, the number of dormant accounts pile up, so do privileged identities. It poses huge risks to the enterprise data assets as ungoverned accounts could be the source of a data breach, data abuse or cyber espionage.
As a result, demand for automated and hassle-free onboarding and deboarding have gained momentum. Most of the SRM leaders look for automated onboarding of all privileged accounts from all IT environments such as:
• Microsoft Active Directory
• Amazon Web Services
• Azure Active Directory
• Google Cloud Platform
Automated onboarding of privileged identities process involves the use of technology to streamline the integration of privileged accounts into an organization’s security infrastructure. This process typically includes the discovery, management, and monitoring of privileged accounts to ensure they are securely managed from the moment they are created.
By automating the onboarding of privileged identities, organizations can reduce administrative overhead, minimize the risk of human error, and ensure that no system is left unmanaged. It is a crucial part of a robust identity governance strategy, especially in complex IT environments.
ARCON solution: Privileged Access Management
(V) Automation
Automation in the IT security industry refers to the use of technology to perform recurring security tasks with minimal human intervention. It is designed to improve efficiency, reduce human error, and enhance the accuracy of security operations. Hence, there is an escalating demand for it in the industry, especially because infrastructures and networks grow both in size and complexity.
The rise of automation in IT security is driven by several factors. Here are some key reasons:
- Defensive Capabilities: Automation focuses on enhancing defensive capabilities, such as security operations center (SOC) countermeasures. By automating repetitive tasks, security teams can respond more efficiently to threats and incidents.
- Identity and Access Management (IAM): Labor-intensive activities like IAM and log activity reporting have huge benefits from automation. It streamlines processes, reduces manual errors, and ensures consistent enforcement of access controls.
- Changing Attack Patterns: AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning are used to stay ahead of evolving attack patterns. Automation helps security professionals adapt quickly to new threats and vulnerabilities.
(V) Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
The industry leaders continuously try to stay updated so that they can offer the best of the best IT security infrastructure to their organizations. However, vulnerabilities are unpredictable. Hence, to stay unaffected by any unprecedented incident, organizations are now looking for robust ITDR (Identity Threat Detection and Response) mechanisms. It is one of the evolving trends as there is a massive sprawl of identities that includes employees, third parties and vendors. Hence, the source of threat is always unpredictable.
To build a proactive security posture, ITDR is emerging as one of the top requirements. Organizations are looking to move a step ahead of conventional IAM practice and embrace ITDR capabilities. Embedding ITDR capabilities with IAM and PAM systems helps security pros to identify real-time security risks and mitigate threats. The reasons behind the same are:
- ITDR comprehends the zero-trust approach once embedded with IAM and PAM systems, and it allows IT security professionals to verify anomalous profiles (IDs) within the network continuously.
- Implementation of ITDR capabilities helps to mitigate identity-based threats. It identifies identity-centric threats in real-time and takes adequate measures to build a proactive security posture which ensures business resilience.
- ITDR helps to identify anomalous behavioral profiles in both on-cloud and hybrid work environments and enables security leaders to take an appropriate measure by remediating risks. ITDR offers 360-degree threat insights over all identities that deviate from the sanctioned baseline activities.
Hence, the demand for ITDR is skyrocketing. Implementing ITDR capabilities amidst more digital identity-based threats is important to reinforce a robust IAM posture.
ARCON solution: Privileged Access Management
Conclusion
Following trends in IT and IT security industry is crucial to inspire innovation, have competitive advantage, and meet customer expectations. The above-mentioned trends identified by ARCON, if followed judiciously and strategically, can control, manage, and mitigate IT security risks in the long run.
