6 Identity Management Best Practices for 2024

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Imagine a scenario where you're diligently doing your organizational tasks, only to discover that critical data has been stolen or tampered with—shockingly, it appears to be linked to your actions. It might sound impossible, but unfortunately, it's a reality.

If someone gains access to your SaaS identity and pretends to be you within your company's systems, it could lead to serious trouble. They could access sensitive data, mess with information, or do things in your name that could cost you and your company a lot of money and reputation or even get you in legal trouble.

And it's not just insiders who could cause problems. External cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated, so even if you're careful, someone else could still find a way in.

To protect your business information, you must stay alert and use advanced identity management solutions. These tools act like a digital protection mechanism in your organization, ensuring only the right people can access your sensitive data.

As technology advances, safeguarding our digital identities becomes more urgent than ever. This guide offers simple yet effective identity management best practices in 2024, helping you avoid new threats.

You can strengthen the security of your digital space by implementing strict security policies and utilizing cutting-edge scanning technologies, following identity management best practices.

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What is identity management (IdM)?

Identity management is the process of managing and controlling digital identities within a system or organization. It encompasses the tasks and technologies that ensure that only authorized individuals or entities have access to specific resources, systems, or data.

An identity management system prevents unauthorized people or programs from accessing systems and data and alerts us if they do. It protects software and data access and also keeps hardware like servers and networks safe from unwanted entry, which could cause ransomware attacks.

Identity management involves several key components, including:

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While people often use the terms "IdM" and "IAM" interchangeably, Identity management focuses on managing and controlling digital identities within an organization.

It uses passwords, fingerprints, or codes to keep them safe. It also covers tasks like identity verification, user provisioning, access control, lifecycle management, and auditing.

On the contrary, access management is a subset of identity management that controls resource access based on user or entity identity. It specifically focuses on enforcing access policies and controls.

This table will help you differentiate between these two mechanisms.

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How does identity management work?

Before implementing identity management best practices, you must understand how Identity management organizes and controls digital identities within an organization or system.

Here's a general overview of how it works:

Identity verification: Confirming who is accessing a system or resource using passwords, biometrics, or multi-factor authentication methods.

Identity provisioning: Granting appropriate access based on verified identity, such as creating accounts, assigning roles, and configuring permissions.

Access control: Enforcing policies to ensure users only access authorized resources, adjusting access based on identity and permissions as needed.

Lifecycle management: This involves managing accounts and privileges to manage user identities from start to finish within the organization, including onboarding, changes, and offboarding.

Auditing and compliance: Monitoring user activities, tracking resource access, and ensuring compliance with regulations and security policies through auditing and reporting.

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Why do businesses need identity management?

Implementing identity management best practices brings several long-term benefits. Thus, organizations must prioritize identity management for,

Enhanced security: IAM implementations help businesses protect sensitive information and prevent unauthorized access to systems and data. It reduces the risk of data breaches and cyber-attacks.

Maintaining regulatory compliance: Identity management solutions ensure businesses comply with regulations and data protection laws by controlling and auditing access to sensitive data.

Increased efficiency: Automating identity-related processes such as user provisioning and access requests can improve operational efficiency and reduce administrative overhead.

Risk management: It enables businesses to identify and mitigate security risks associated with user access, helping to safeguard against insider threats, unauthorized activity, or even risks from third-party vendors.

Enhanced user experience: The solutions streamline the user authentication process, making it easier and more convenient for people to access the necessary resources securely.

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Common identity management threats businesses face

This table summarizes the common threats businesses encounter in managing identities.

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6 Identity management best practices to follow

If you don't want to compromise your organization's security, ensure you follow almost all the mentioned identity management best practices.

1. Implementing strong authentication methods

Deploying strong authentication methods requires advanced security mechanisms and authentication methods beyond basic usernames and passwords. Two key methods for strong authentication are multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO).

Multi-factor authentication (MFA): MFA boosts security by mandating users to provide two or more verification forms before accessing a system or application.

Common factors used in MFA include,

• Something the user knows (e.g., password or PIN).
• Something the user has (e.g., smartphone, token, or smart card).
• Something the user is (e.g., biometric traits like fingerprints, facial recognition, or iris scans).

MFA greatly decreases the risk of unauthorized access by combining multiple factors in real-time. Even if one factor is compromised, access remains protected by the other factor(s).

For instance, logging into an online banking portal may require entering a password (knowledge factor) and verifying identity with a one-time code sent to a mobile device (possession factor).

Single sign-on (SSO): SSO streamlines user authentication by allowing them to authenticate once and access multiple systems without repeated logins. After initial authentication, SSO generates a token or ticket for accessing resources within its environment.

SSO streamlines the user experience, reducing credential entries and alleviating password fatigue. However, it introduces a single point of failure, requiring robust security measures like MFA to safeguard against unauthorized access.

2. Establishing role-based access control (RBAC)

Establishing RBAC is crucial for information security and privileged access management within your SaaS infrastructure. RBAC systems enforce access control policies by permitting or denying access to resources based on user roles.

When users try to access a resource, the RBAC system verifies their role and permissions to decide if they can perform the requested action.

Here's how it works and its benefits:

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3. Centralized identity management systems

Centralized identity management systems serve as a central hub within organizations. They store and manage user identities, access rights, and permissions across multiple systems and applications in one centralized location.

This centralization brings several advantages:

• Increased efficiency: Centralizing user identities and access permissions streamlines administrative tasks, reducing errors and making workflows more efficient.
• Enhanced security: Centralized identity management enforces consistent security policies, lowering the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches.
• Regulatory compliance: Centralized systems help organizations comply with regulations by maintaining comprehensive user access and permissions records.
• Improved user experience: Features like single sign-on (SSO) enhance user convenience and productivity by enabling access to multiple systems with a single set of credentials.

4. Continuous monitoring and threat detection

An organization implementing continuous monitoring and threat detection involves consistently monitoring its IT environment to identify and respond swiftly to cybersecurity threats.

This proactive approach enables early threat detection, rapid response, and minimization of the impact of potential breaches or data loss.

Here's an explanation of the monitoring aspects.

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5. Enforce strong password policies

Implement strong password policy, such as requiring complex passwords and regular password changes, helps safeguard against password-based attacks like brute-force attacks or dictionary attacks.

Here's an expansion on enforcing strong password policies:

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6. Employee training and awareness

Organizations must provide employees with comprehensive training programs to educate them on the importance of adhering to good security practices.

This includes recognizing phishing attempts, understanding the risks of sharing passwords and grasping the significance of safeguarding sensitive information.

Enhancing employee awareness strengthens the organization's overall security posture and reduces the likelihood of human error leading to security incidents.

If your organization faces identity management challenges, there's a better way to handle them. You can opt for a SaaS management platform (SMP) to streamline and centralize it.

Embracing a centralized system like SMP can effectively manage your organization's user identities, access controls, and permissions.

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Are you struggling with identity management? - Do this instead.

By following this IAM framework, you can always stay ahead in maintaining your organization's multiple layer of security and add an extra layer of protection.

Comprehensive visibility: An SMP allows you to consolidate and manage all your SaaS applications through a single dashboard. It provides a comprehensive overview of your SaaS environment, including usage, spending, user access, and security.

Cost optimization: Streamlining SaaS application management provides valuable insights for making cost-optimization decisions and ensuring there are no hidden costs.

Eliminating shadow IT: These tools can help create a framework by identifying shadow IT and IT sprawl, eliminating unnecessary SaaS usage, and streamlining management processes.

Ensuring Compliance: These tools streamline compliance and security risk identification, enabling immediate action and providing regular reports to keep you updated about your SaaS stack, ensuring peace of mind.

If you need assistance selecting the right tool, we recommend CloudEagle—a comprehensive SaaS and procurement management platform with robust security management features. CloudEagle effortlessly connects with SSO systems like Microsoft Active Directory, G-Suite, and Okta, gathering user login and app access data.

CloudEagle's SSO integrations boost efficiency and reduce the risk of data breaches. This integration streamlines IT management and enhances security. CloudEagle offers complete control, visibility, vendor management, user provisioning, and improved compliance and risk management, with features covering the entire SaaS lifecycle.

Book a demo with CloudEagle today to incorporate SaaS identity management practices into your business to secure your assets and ensure worry-free operations.

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Frequently asked questions [FAQs]

Q: Why is identity management important for businesses?

Identity management ensures that only authorized individuals can access sensitive data and resources. This prevents breaches, streamlines operations, ensures regulatory compliance, and bolsters security.

Q: What are the common challenges in identity management?

Common challenges include managing access across various systems, mitigating insider threats, preventing credential theft, and staying ahead of evolving security risks.

Q: What are some best practices for managing identities securely?

It entails employing strong authentication methods like multi-factor authentication, implementing the principle of least privilege, conducting regular staff training on security protocols, and monitoring suspicious activities.

Q: How does identity management contribute to regulatory compliance?

Identity management supports compliance by regulating access to sensitive data, tracking user activities, and enforcing security measures aligned with GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS regulations.

Q: What are the benefits of centralized identity management systems?

Centralized systems streamline identity management, consolidating user data and access controls. They bolster security, ensure policy consistency, aid compliance, and enhance user experience with features like single sign-on.

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