Identity management: tips to consider

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Organisations depend on a variety of systems, applications and devices to run their operations, and users require access to these resources to do their jobs efficiently. Managing this can be challenging.

Identity and access management adds a layer of security by tracking, managing and securing the identities of individuals and their associated data. 

Implementing a sound identity management solution does not guarantee complete security, but adopting the following principles can make you less vulnerable to breaches and attacks from malicious actors.

Here are a few tips to consider:

• Implement strong authentication methods (such as multi-factor authentication) to reduce the risk of unauthorised access.
• Regularly review access control policies to ensure that only authorised users can access sensitive information and resources.
• Monitor and audit access to sensitive information and resources to detect and prevent unauthorized access.
• Frequently update user accounts to ensure they remain relevant and accurate.
• Implement a password management solution to reduce the risk of password-related security incidents, such as password reuse or password theft.

What it means for compliance

If identity and access management processes are not effectively controlled, you may be non-compliant with industry standards or government regulations.

The world is moving towards stricter regulations and standards for identity management – such as the European GDPR🡭 and the NIST 800-63 Digital Identity Guidelines🡭 in the US. 

Although ISO compliance is not a legal requirement, ISO standards naturally align with the regulations of various sectors. So complying with ISO/IEC 27001 for information security can prevent your organisation from getting into legal trouble over crucial aspects of identity management.

Based around segregation of duty and a “one user, one ID” policy, it demonstrates that your corporate information is appropriately controlled.