FEATURE
For some time and to varying degrees of complexity , automation has played a role in Identity Lifecycle Management and access provisioning . Automated governance around user access requests , reviews and violation management is less prominent , but recent innovations have seen drastic improvements in prescriptive analytics providing decision support for endusers , reviewers and approvers .
It ’ s true that for the most critical applications and sensitive data , there will always be a need for some level of human decision-making or approval . However , as we see an increase in the amount of useful data held on identities and their access automation of approval , review and violation detection and remediation will also increase to complement the human side of governance .
Intelligent unification
A third new trend I see emerging in 2022 and beyond is the emergence of unified governance platforms . Now , more than ever , organisations have a plethora of solutions at their disposal . This can lead to siloed information and a disparate approach to security where some solutions focus on niche use cases .
Maximising the capabilities and information available and integrating them to provide a unified and holistic view of identities , their access , the contexts , or reasons why they have , and how they use their access will be crucial in reducing identity related risk .
Breaking down these siloes and sharing information across these boundaries will provide assurance that your identities are truly secure and greater adaptability to tackle new identity challenges as they arise .
In addition to this , such platforms will further the autonomy in IGA processes through this meaningful convergence of technology and identity disciplines . This will significantly reduce the manual effort when implementing , managing and interacting with identity governance processes .
Towards an identitycentric approach
The 2021 IBM Cost of a Data Breach report found that the average total cost of a data breach increased by 10 % from the previous year to US $ 4.24 million – the highest cost ever recorded .
It is now more difficult to both protect against breaches and more costly to deal with their aftermath . Identity governance has never been more important . But now that the traditional corporate perimeter no longer exists , how do you adapt to an identity-centric approach to your cybersecurity and governance strategy ?
The last two years have ushered in a sea of change regarding how organisations manage identities and their access . Hybrid working and cloud-based applications and services create greater opportunities for anytime , anywhere productivity but also increase the complexity of managing identityrelated risk .
The right solution coupled with the right strategy will enable you to realise the benefits of these opportunities without sacrificing security or efficiency .
The continued adoption of cloudbased services and applications will dovetail with the advent of unified identity governance platforms and an emphasis on greater autonomy . With the automation capabilities available today , there ’ s no need to saddle administrators and end-users with the burden of unnecessary manual effort in managing identity related risk .
What ’ s more , it ’ s now possible to have a holistic view of identity that better serves the diverse needs of all hybrid work scenarios . Take time to reflect upon the three trends noted above and determine whether changes need to be made to your identity strategy for the year ahead . u
50 www . intelligentciso . com