What is identity and access management (IAM)?

Identity and access management (IAM) involves establishing a user's identity and verifying that the user has the right to access certain applications and types of information.

According to Statista, the global IAM market was worth $16 billion in 2022. The forecast is that this will increase to $43 billion by 2029. Clearly, IAM is a technology in high demand, and many organizations are starting to realize the need. to incorporate IAM. in your data security efforts.

Let's take a closer look at what IAM is, how it works, its advantages and disadvantages, and some recommended solutions.

What is identity and access management?

As defined by Gartner, “Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a business and security discipline that includes multiple technologies and business processes to help the right people or machines access the right assets at the right time and by the appropriate reasons, while keeping unauthorized persons. access and fraud at bay.”

IAM, then, is a set of policies, processes, and various security tools that act as a gatekeeper to an organization's online and digital resources. It was a relatively simple topic in the era before the cloud and the work-from-home movement.

Firewalls used to be sufficient protection. If you were inside the firewall, you just needed to log into the site and access whatever you needed. Today, IAM must be able to deal with employees who might be at home, in the office, or on the road. And, within these work environments, data and applications can be internally, in a private cloud, or in the public cloud. However, regardless of their location, authorized users should be able to gain quick access.

Modern IAM must therefore be able to cope with the decentralized nature of applications and data while providing secure access to emails, databases and data only to those identities that can be verified as authentic. . The best systems must also strike the right balance between security and functionality. Users do not want to wait long to access their work tools. If there are too many security hurdles to overcome, it starts to impact productivity. Therefore, IAM's job is to keep hackers and criminals out while allowing access to employees, authorized partners, and customers.

Why you need identity access management

Since phishing is becoming so common and many employees continue to fall victim to it despite security training, more security measures must be implemented. IAM simplifies the task of monitoring who has access to what and revoking those rights when necessary.

Advantages of IAM

• Keep data and identities secure: IAM provides a formidable barrier to both, thanks to features like multi-factor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), and encryption.
• Collaboration: IAM not only excludes unwanted visitors, but also provides a safe space in which those with the appropriate rights can safely share information.
• Compliance: The presence of IAM makes it easier for those working in compliance to demonstrate compliance with various regulations.
• Convenience: IAM typically incorporates features like SSO, so once you're in, you won't need to enter any more credentials for other applications and systems.
• Centralized control: Automated functions and the presence of standardized user profiles help streamline tasks and improve security.

Cons of IAM

• Poor definition of rights: IAM requires the establishment of a framework for managing identities, as well as a standardized profile for each user to define what they can and cannot do. If done poorly, people can gain greater access privileges than their roles deserve.
• Internal abuse: IAM can do a good job of keeping people who don't belong out, but a rogue insider or disgruntled employee can abuse the system by granting rights to unauthorized users or opening systems widely and often undetected.
• Implementation challenges: IAM requires trained IT and security personnel who can do a thorough job implementing IAM and overcoming the many barriers that stand in its way.
• Single point of failure: If administrative privileges are compromised, the entire organization and each user are at serious risk.

How IAM works

As the name suggests, identity and access management has two main functions: identity management and access management. These can be divided into further functions as follows:

Identity lifecycle management

Login attempts must be checked against a centralized identity database. This record of all users must be continually updated as people enter or leave the organization. As roles change and organizations evolve, the identity database needs to be well maintained. As soon as someone is hired, they need a profile accurately entered into the database. This profile is kept up to date during his term. When they are no longer eligible, it is necessary to delete their profile and associated rights so that they can no longer access critical systems.

Access control

After identity verification, the next role of IAM is to manage your access rights. It's about what they are allowed to see, what they are not allowed to see, and what apps they can or cannot use. Some organizations are strict when it comes to access control and others are more lenient. The presence of IAM helps IT monitor this function and detect people who have been granted too many privileges.

Authentication and authorization

Once an identity is authenticated, access to specific assets can be authorized. IAM uses factors such as job title, seniority, security clearance, and project membership to determine who should be authorized to see what.

Identity governance

IAM is closely tied to compliance. Identity governance covers the full range of identity and access functions to ensure that all appropriate standards are met, that the organization complies with applicable regulations, and that an audit trail exists for any changes to identities and access rights. access.

Popular IAM Solutions

JumpCloud, OneLogin, ManageEngine AD360, and Okta are among the most popular IAM solutions on the market. Each of them is widely implemented in many vertical sectors. Those selecting IAM tools should pay attention to both the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

JumpCloud

JumpCloud is ideal for businesses with a large cloud presence due to the variety of features it offers. It is also a good option for Microsoft Stores as an alternative to Active Directory (AD). Key features include a large catalog of pre-built apps and an enterprise-class password manager. The platform costs $19 per user per month or $24 if you add zero trust and premium support.

Okta

Okta is ideal for large enterprise deployments, although it also serves the mid-market. As such, it offers a wide range of customization, no-code/low-code/code, and integration options. Pricing is based on individual features. These range from $3 to $15 per user per month for things like MFA, directory, SSO, lifecycle management, API management, and privileged access management (PAM).

A login

OneLogin is especially suited for organizations that are not looking for an innovative approach to IAM. In addition to many integrations, developers can apply a high degree of customization to the platform, including custom branding. SMEs are often attracted to this offer due to its attractive prices. Just like Okta, pricing is broken down by specific feature, such as SSO and MFA.

Manage AD360 engine

ManageEngine AD360 is suitable for those organizations looking to achieve a unified approach to zero trust, IAM, and security information and event management (SIEM). It offers a wide range of security features that large organizations may need, as well as integration with SIEM, zero trust, and other security tools and technologies. Pricing is tiered based on the number of users, starting at $395 per year for 100 users.

Identity and access management has become a fundamental security technology for the modern enterprise. You can learn more about IAM by reading our whitepaper, “The 10 Universal Truths of IAM.”