How to address identity sprawl with a unified identity and access management platform
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Identity is a foundational element of security for businesses—but managing identities can create challenges for security teams that now need to account for a growing number of remote users and machine identities.
A survey sponsored by the Identity Defined Security Alliance finds that 84% of enterprise respondents said they’ve experienced an identity-related breach. As identity-based cyberattacks become more prevalent, historically fragmented approaches to identity security can expose gaps for cyber criminals to exploit. Companies that are unifying and aligning identity and access management (IAM) infrastructures are the ones able to address identity sprawl and keep pace with changing business needs.
What is identity sprawl?
As organizations adopt more cloud applications and services, their digital footprints expand. This usually means that users need more access to more services, which can lead to a concept called identity sprawl.
Identity sprawl occurs when users create accounts that span multiple disconnected platforms. As a user creates more accounts their identity expands and spreads.
Identity sprawl can make rapid user provisioning or deprovisioning more challenging, leading to inconsistent entitlements and ghost accounts that can increase the risk of data loss and compromise. Because apps and services may each have their own provisioning mechanisms and systems for managing identities, new adoption can create opportunities for inconsistencies in how access and governance policies are applied. Without a centralized view of security across the organization, identity sprawl can result in overprivileged accounts going unnoticed.
Remote work has made IAM more complicated
Employees, partners, and contractors now often work from different locations, creating more access points and roles that are constantly changing. To reduce the impact of potential breaches, security experts are beginning to focus on identity as the “edge”, meaning that user identity is used as the security perimeter to protect expanding IT footprints.
Savvy security experts know that preventing a breach is nearly impossible. But a focus on identity and access management can help organizations pursue a zero-trust strategy and minimize the impact of a breach when it does occur. Zero trust requires verification from every user trying to gain access to resources, thereby authenticating users and regulating access to systems, networks, and data. This process involves validating user identities and access rights and enables organizations to manage the digital identities of users.
User experience is important for successful identity management
In addition to the challenges that identity sprawl creates for provisioning and user access, it can also result in inconsistent user experiences. Gartner® predicts that improved user experience will be a key component of secure digital business, estimating that those who provide a better user experience will “outperform competitors by 25% in satisfaction metrics for both customer and employee experience.” [1]
Unified IAM platforms help businesses unify user data and manage access across cloud and on-premises applications, providing a better and more consistent user experience. These platforms can also provide self-service options for users with an intuitive and easy way to manage their profiles and request access.
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Hybrid and multicloud environments are increasing machine use and robot identities.
The increase in adoption of cloud services is leading to more machine use and more robot identities, and with most organizations using more the one cloud, identities are being managed across multiple environments. While security experts often strive to achieve a “single pane of glass” view, this isn’t yet possible with most multicloud environments. Organizations can instead take a layered approach to security that centralizes some IAM functions while leaving room for native tools and use API access controls to ensure that new apps are onboarded securely.
Organizations looking to take a layered approach can seek cloud service providers that offer products and services with built-in security and integration capabilities for third-party vendors. When security products work across different cloud providers, it’s more convenient for organizations with a multicloud deployment to remediate issues caused by disconnected point products.
Cloud IAM platforms can help unify your IAM approach.
To help address identity sprawl, organizations are turning to unified IAM platforms that provide a centralized view of customer, employee, and machine interactions, and use advanced analytics and AI to track and predict behavior and access.
Unified IAM platforms can position identity as the security control for expanding IT architectures. These platforms offer a centrally managed approach to security and help organizations prevent identity sprawl by managing entitlement across cloud and on-premises applications. With Identity and Access Management from Oracle, you can easily manage access and entitlements across a wide range of cloud and on-premises applications. Oracle offers a unified cloud identity solution that centers user identity as the security control mechanism for expanding IT landscapes and helps organizations pursue a zero-trust strategy.
Read the cloud security trends ebook for more on unified IAM and other trends.
1. Gartner, IAM Leaders: Plan to Adopt These 6 Identity and Access Management Trends, February 17, 2022
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Originally appeared on the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Blog.
Author: Rachel Nizinski, Product Marketing Manager