Identity and access management is the discipline that enables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times, for the right reasons (Gartner). ‘Access’ and ‘user’ are integral to Identity and Access Management.

‘Access’ refers to the actions that are permitted by a user. For example, view, create or change a file. ‘Users’ refers to employees, partners, contractors or clients.

An Identity & Access Management framework allows managers to control user access to critical information within their organization. Systems used for Identity & Access Management include single sign-on, two-factor authentication, multi-factor authentication and privileged access management.

Identity & Access Management systems are designed to identify, authenticate and authorize. In other words, only the right people will have access to computers and applications and be able to complete certain tasks. At a basic level, Identity & Access Management includes:

• How individuals are identified in a system
• How roles are identified in a system
• How these roles are assigned to individuals
• The addition, subtraction and updating of people and their roles
• The assignment of access levels to individuals or groups of individuals
• The protection of sensitive data within a system
• The security of the system as a whole 

The Benefits

Security. By controlling user access, companies can eliminate data breaches, identity theft, and illegal access to confidential information. Identity & Access Management can prevent the spread of compromised login credentials, avoid unauthorized entry to your network, and provide protection against cyber attacks like ransomware, hacking and phishing.

Simplified workloads. When security policies get updated, all access privileges across the organization can be changed at once. Identity & Access Management can also reduce the number of help desk tickets and automate tedious IT tasks.

Improved Collaboration & Enhanced Productivity. With Identity Access & Management, external users (customers, suppliers, partners) can be granted permissions to ensure fluid communication and collaboration, without compromising security.

Better user experience. With Single Sign On, there's no need to enter multiple passwords to access multiple systems.

What kind of security policies does your Company have in place? With increased regulatory and organizational pressure to protect access to corporate resources, its important you have the right protocols in place. Sign up for our Security Workshop to see how protected your environment is. 

Interested in learning more about the other threats that could be jeopardizing your Company? Check out our blog on The Most Overlooked Security Threats.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_management