6 Reasons Businesses Should Invest in Identity and Access Management

With cybercrimes and identity theft occurring now and then, there has been a surge in demand for secure access. But why is there such a skyrocketing surge?

People don't want their identities to get stolen. The surge is partly due to the world shifting its gear to work from home even after the pandemic. This is giving rise to more and more businesses investing in identity and access management (IAM) systems.

Before understanding the significance of IAM, let's explore what it means to the business sphere.

What is IAM?

IAM is the process of protecting your business and its resources against cybersecurity threats, controlling user identities, and limiting access to resources. Typically, IAM uses role-based access control to understand and enforce how users are identified in a system, assign various access levels, and define the level of access for sensitive and critical information.

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Some commonly used IAM technologies include two-factor authentication, single sign-on systems (SSO), privileged access management (PAM), and multifactor authentication.

These tools enable a business’s data governance and ensure the business shares information with authorized personnel.

6 reasons businesses should invest in IAM

Here are some reasons businesses should invest in IAM:

1. Protects against the financial cost of data breaches

Had the IAM technology been used a few years ago, Yahoo would not have faced the data breach of more than 3 billion user accounts. 

That's where IAM comes into the picture. 

As compromised passwords are the primary reason for data breaches, IAM technology like Zluri and Ping Identity, which are Okta competitors, can make it easier for businesses to reduce financial penalties, manage crises, audit services, and mitigate legal costs. What makes Zluri a one-stop destination tool for all your identity management needs is that the tool doesn't stop at SSO level authorization when de-provisioning. Instead it manages and monitors the usage of SSO systems.

By addressing the base problem and taking responsibility for managing passwords from user ends, an IAM solution can minimize the risk of cyberattacks, including credential stuffing and phishing.

2. Offers better security

Another benefit of investing in an IAM solution is that it provides better security through careful control over access rights related to user applications and accounts. Businesses can update and monitor the rights of each user. What makes IAM solutions worth trying is that they offer adequate security across all systems, applications, platforms, and devices. This makes it easier for businesses to track potential violations or security breaches, eliminate inappropriate access privileges, and reverse the access when needed. When only certain users have access to critical information, it becomes much easier to identify the origin. With 93% of small to medium-sized businesses dealing with identity challenges in their work environment, an IAM is a must-have solution in your tech-arsenal.

3. Helps in meeting compliance obligation

After the cost incurred due to data breaches, regulatory pressure is another reason why businesses are considering investing in IAM solutions.

With laws like GDPR and CCPA in place and many more in line, businesses have to ensure the security of customers' private details. These laws require a business to create a strong cybersecurity network.

That's where an IAM solution can come in. A robust IAM framework can help a business ensure business-wide security, follow practices such as automated password-based authentication, and leverage the advantages of password-less authentication.

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Many IAM provides token-based authentication and password vaulting and forwarding to ensure employees do not use weak passwords on corporate data.

What makes IAM a must-have solution is its ability to de-provision, ensuring users are not left with access to data they no longer need.

4. Enhances efficiency of security teams

Apart from providing a holistic and business-wide security framework, IAM solutions help improve security teams' efficiency and effectiveness.

Using IAM solutions, the security department can provide user access based on their requirements. This ensures that users, such as contractors, clients, employees, partners, and third-party vendors, can be grouped based on the access they require.

Also, most modern-day IAM solutions use AI and automation that helps the security team automate many essential security aspects, such as authentication and user authorization.

5. Improves user experience

Today, the digital customer wants to interact with businesses across multiple channels, whether it's the cloud or through third-party applications. This is where IAM outshines other security measures available.

An IAM uses SSO, a unified customer profile, and self-service capabilities to communicate processes.

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What makes IAM more interesting is that it empowers users to access critical business information from anywhere in a convenient and secure environment.

This can directly impact the user’s productivity because they have access to the information they require for fulfilling their job duties.

6. Facilitate a hybrid work environment

In the post-COVID-19 era, most businesses are moving rapidly toward remote working, and many are considering a hybrid work environment for obvious reasons. 

According to the FBI, since the start of the pandemic, there was a 300% increase in cybercrimes as businesses struggled to manage cybersecurity threats.

Phishing is the most significant type of attack encountered by work-from-home employees. As these solutions use SSO, users rely heavily on token-based authentication or password-based authentication to access various applications. A robust IAM solution is critical in empowering a business to transition from a remote to a hybrid working model.

6 things that make IAM a must-have

Security management

For companies, any data breach incident is a common concern irrespective of its position, and market condition. Ignoring IAM solutions can mean companies are tempting and inviting cybercriminals to steal their all-important data. So, today every business requires a full IAM service to secure their customer’s data from external and internal threats.

Identity management

Internal threats such as misuse and manual errors are more troublesome than some external threats a business might face. Often, the internal threat can become a nightmare for your business. With an IAM in your kitty, you get full access control and can customize the access you offer to the right user under the right context. What makes IAM more interesting is that it offers protection from both external threats even if an internal team member comes across malicious software or threat attempts.

Customer satisfaction

Did you know that a business can lose half of its customers after a data breach? A part of these customers is never going to come back to your business. Ensuring data safety is the key to retaining customers and gaining their trust. That's where an IAM system comes into the picture. It helps businesses ensure that every user's data is secure across different platforms. These solutions offer holistic security across multiple platforms, thereby ensuring customer satisfaction.

User experience

Security options such as single-factor authentication can help in offering access over multiple channels. This makes it easier for users to share content in a secure environment. It removes the hassle of remembering too many passwords while providing security assurance and enhanced user experience.

Business performance

When a business offers the best-in-class security, customers will likely flock to your brand and prefer you over others. But are you wondering how the IAM plays a significant role?

When your data security is in place, you have time to focus on other critical and urgent matters. With IAM setup being a cakewalk even for large enterprises, you can ensure the safe login of thousands of employees in a secure environment.

Confidentiality of data

By restricting access to those employees who do not use certain applications, files, or websites, businesses can be in a better position to secure sensitive and critical data. It also enables project managers to understand which employees are associated with which project. That's why more and more businesses are switching to IAM solutions to fulfill their security requirements.

Conclusion

The increasing rise and depth of data breaches and the scope and scale of IAM continue to witness steady growth.

With IAM solutions, a business can greatly improve how it operates and manages its security requirements. An identity and access management solution gives you access to high-end security without compromising convenience and usability.

Businesses have to meet changing customer requirements and expectations as well. If you have a business where a customer must register, you need to consider what your customer is expecting to use and how best to ensure you keep their records safe.

Businesses that do not change with the changing demands of the customers are likely to fall prey to digital Darwinism.

Start searching and implementing a reliable IAM solution to win the trust of your audience and ensure you provide the best security to their data.

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Priya Jain for ROI4CIO Blog