How IAM Helps In Securing IT Infrastructure

How IAM Helps In Securing IT Infrastructure

Lately there has been significant interest within enterprises with regards to Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions. With its ability to address critical challenges that IT departments around the world are facing today, IAM solutions have been able to effectively help secure and govern access to enterprise applications in an increasingly complex IT infrastructure that involves on premise and cloud services, SaaS and mobile devices.

IAM and its Potential in Securing your IT Infrastructure

When one thinks about an IAM solution, security, efficiency, simplicity, productivity and compliance are the clear advantages associated with its implementation. Yet, there are a number of enterprises that choose to overlook these benefits purely on the foundation of the cost and complexity in the implementation of these solutions.

However, enterprises that are able to take a step back and consider the cost of a potential security breach involved with manual provisioning and de-provisioning of access, the key advantage of an IAM solution to your IT infrastructure is rather clear.

Moving on from Traditional Security Perimeters

With traditional security perimeters shrinking, enterprises relying on IAM solutions now must consider scenarios such as an increased mobile workforce along with an extremely distributed and complicated network of applications. The right IAM solution helps secure on premise, cloud as well as mobile IT infrastructure by streamlining provisioning and de-provisioning, reducing demands on IT and easing management pains among many other things.

On Premise and Cloud IAM

While a growing number of enterprises are choosing to move on to cloud platforms over managing on premise applications and IT infrastructure, ensuring effective identity management for the later continues to be the need of the hour. Whether one is looking for a on premise or cloud based IAM solution, they both entail critical functions such as identity provisioning and de-provisioning, authentication and authorisation. In simple words, it defines who access what information or application, from where and when.

Security for Multiple Device Access

With the use of multiple devices including mobile becoming more and more common, organizations are able to rely on IAM to overcome the risks of password fatigue, lack of authentication, manual provisioning and multiple user directories among other things. In addition to this, IAM helps reduce security risks by managing, securing and integrating access to corporate information.

With secure federation, enterprises are able to authenticate and exchange user attributes between service providers. This can be achieved on premise as well as on cloud by establishing a common user identity across all deployments. IAM also helps provide secure remote access to browser based applications on the basis of user identities. This is regardless of where the user is located and what device he or she is on.

Furthermore, multi-factor authentication via IAM also helps secure off-network users with the help of second factor authentication controls. This can be delivered through a number of mobile channels including instant messaging, email and SMS.

Meeting the Challenges of BYOD Environments

Contractors, partners, employees and other stakeholders are relying on personal devices to connect with the corporate network for professional as well as personal reasons. The challenge here has little to do with external devices being brought into the enterprise network and more to do with the capability of an IT infrastructure to protect the business assets of an enterprise without impacting productivity while also offering the freedom to choose.

While every company today has a BYOD policy in place that enables users to access secure resources from personal devices. However, more often than not, accessing internal and SaaS applications on mobile devices is harder work that simply doing so from a networked desktop workstation or laptop. IAM helps in setting up a secure, easy and quick way to grant as well as revoke access to corporate applications on employee or corporate owned devices based on the guidelines set. With technology evolving at the rate that it is, trends such as Internet of Things, IAM helps IT teams in deploying solutions that efficiently meet new demands on the corporate network.

Security and Privileged IAM

Database administrators, CEOs, CIOs and other such super user accounts tend to be governed very loosely. Some of the best security policies tend to leave these account entirely uncontrolled while also allowing advanced privileges on the corporate network. Furthermore, most owners of these accounts come with little to no formal training on how to securely manage them.

It is often seen that the motivation to implement a robust privileged identity management solution commences with an immediate need to address an unforeseen security breach. With the right privileged IAM solution in tow, it is possible to bring about significant administrative accountability, effective and secure release controls; stronger inter-application authentication; efficient monitoring of privileged activities and enforcement of privileged activity policies. Furthermore, it also brings about some consistency in password change policies, mitigation of hacker and malware and higher technical staff efficiency.

In Conclusion...

IAM solutions help enterprises ensure security by deploying solutions with robust multifactor authentication while also getting rid of any user frustrations by offering seamless access. IAM helps create policies based on contextual, granular information and helps make decisions based on user identity, device and location to deliver quick and secure access to relevant partners, contractors, employees and guests.