The Zero Trust Security Model Companies Need Now

In the last two years, 79% of organizations have experienced an identity-related security breach, according to research from the Identity Defined Security Alliance (IDSA). That’s a truly staggering number, however, the even more shocking statistic is that nearly all of the security and identity professionals surveyed believe their identity-related breaches were preventable if they were using a Zero Trust Security Model.

As security breaches continue to be on the rise, with more sophisticated approaches appearing every day, identity and access management (IAM) is more essential for cybersecurity success than ever before. While building an unbreachable system may not be an option, there are best practices companies can start implementing with their identity management today to stay a step ahead of vulnerabilities and cyberattacks.

Identity Management Best Practices

Zero in on Zero Trust

More and more organizations are on the road to a Zero Trust security model, an architecture that treats all users as potential threats by preventing access until they’re properly authenticated. Of course, for most organizations Zero Trust (ZT) isn’t something that can just be switched on, it’s a journey. It takes time, planning, and the right processes. 

There are many different approaches businesses can take to a Zero Trust program depending on their goals and requirements. Whatever that final destination looks like for an organization, a layered approach to your Zero Trust program can help companies more gradually implement this architecture. Taking the time to securely integrate existing technologies for both input and output is essential to maintaining the tight restrictions Zero Trust calls for.

Take Advantage of Automation

Manual identity management needs to stop now. It’s not only a time-consuming, unnecessary burden for your IT team, it’s also a minefield for potential human error (i.e. opportunities for hackers). Not to mention, implementing a ZT infrastructure is next to impossible without the assistance of automated processes. 

By implementing automation for your most critical IAM processes with onboarding and offboarding, you both shore up your system and free up your team for more strategic projects (like further strengthening your cybersecurity efforts).

Prioritize PAM

A recent Bravura Security poll, conducted by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), found that more than three-quarters of the 160 IT professionals surveyed had experienced a privileged access policy violation in the last year. More importantly, almost none said they were confident their current approach to privileged access management (PAM) would prevent security breaches. This is alarming. A  well integrated and modern PAM solution should inspire and foster confidence, yet, most IAM solutions don’t fully account for this critical piece. 

Bravura Security Fabric brings both IAM and PAM together into a single, seamless solution with Bravura Identity and Bravura Privilege. This allows organizations to more easily enforce security, cross-platform access policies, and uphold the Principles of Least Privilege while also reducing IT security risk and enhancing accountability with frictionless, time-limited privileged access. With ZT on the horizon, bringing these features together will be a must for organizations going forward.

Committed to Strong Identity Management

As organizations continue to combat cyberthreats, strong identity management will play a leading role. The emergence  of Zero Trust as the prevailing cybersecurity philosophy underscores the importance of IAM. Businesses need to ensure all of their cybersecurity strategies are fully integrated and aligned to maintain the edge against threats going forward.

On April 13, the IDSA is partnering with the National Cybersecurity Alliance for the first annual Identity Management Day, and clearly the need is greater than ever. Businesses need to get proactive about their cybersecurity or they risk becoming another statistic. To learn more about ZT & IAM best practices, join us with our partner, intiGrow, for our Planning Your Zero Trust Journey With Enhanced Identity Governance webinar on April 13.