Identity and access management (IAM) solutions serve as critical components for safeguarding sensitive information and ensuring that only authorized users have access to specific resources. As organizations continue to embrace digital transformation, the need for robust IAM solutions is becoming increasingly important.
Identity and Access Management Solutions: An Overview
What is Identity and Access Management (IAM)?
Identity and access management is an identity intelligence framework consisting of policies and technologies used to manage digital identities. An IAM solution helps ensure that only authorized users gain access to the necessary data and applications while preventing unauthorized access. It serves as a control mechanism that safeguards sensitive data from potential breaches.
What is identity intelligence?
Identity intelligence is a type of cyber threat intelligence focused around the management of an organization’s user credentials. As part of a strong threat intelligence program, organizations should ensure that they collect the following types of identity intelligence data:
- Leaked credentials being sold on dark web forums and in illicit Telegram channels
- Passwords compromised as a result of data breaches
- Infostealer malware logs containing credentials
- Initial access broker (IAB) sales containing compromised credentials that cybercriminals can use to gain unauthorized access
- Hardcoded credentials or API keys in source code stored in GitHub repositories
What are examples of IAM solutions?
- Identity management: The foundation of IAM, identity management focuses on maintaining the identity repository and lifecycle. It encompasses creation, management, and deletion of user accounts across systems, ensuring that each user has a unique and identifiable presence within an organization’s network.
- Threat intelligence: Threat intelligence solutions scan the internet for leaks or stolen credentials, or other identifying information which might grant unauthorized access to threat actors.
- Access management: This component ensures that the right individuals have the correct level of access to resources. Access management typically involves user authentication, authorization, and auditing of access permissions.
- Authentication and authorization: Authentication verifies the identity of a user, often through passwords, biometric data, or tokens. Authorization determines the level of access a verified user has to resources. Together, they form the gatekeepers of data access in IAM solutions.
- Single Sign-On (SSO): Single sign-on technology allows users to access multiple applications using a single set of login credentials, enhancing user convenience while streamlining password management.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): MFA adds layers of security by requiring users to present more than one form of verification before granting access. This could include a combination of something they know (password), something they have (smartphone), or something they are (fingerprint).
Why are IAM Solutions Especially Relevant Now?
Why is IAM important?
- Enhanced security: IAM solutions reduce the risk of data breaches by ensuring that only authorized users have the ability to access sensitive information. They help prevent unauthorized access and keep cyber criminals at bay.
- Regulatory compliance: Many industries are subject to strict regulations regarding data protection and privacy. IAM helps organizations adhere to these regulations by providing necessary audit trails and ensuring secure access to sensitive information.
- Operational efficiency: By automating identity and access processes, IAM solutions streamline user provisioning, improve accuracy, and reduce administrative overhead. This leads to more efficient operations and optimized resource allocation.
- Improved user experience: With features like SSO and self-service password management, IAM solutions enhance the user experience by simplifying access processes and reducing the frustration associated with password resets.
How is identity and access management related to cybersecurity?
Threat actors increasingly rely on credential-based attacks to get unauthorized access to your applications, systems, and networks. For example:
- Password spraying: trying commonly used passwords against various user logins, hoping that one provides access
- Brute force attacks: targeting a single user ID then trying multiple passwords, hoping one works
- Credential stuffing: using breached or leaked credentials to access a resource
- Identity intelligence provides insights into compromised accounts to mitigate risks arising from:
- Fraud: Cybercriminals pretend to be legitimate customers to engage in fraudulent transactions, like making purchases or transferring funds.
- Account takeover: Malicious actors use legitimate credentials to take over an individual’s account, enabling them to hide as a known user while accessing sensitive data or resources.
- API attacks: Threat actors use stolen API keys to compromise the application-to-application communication points.
How can you choose the right IAM solution?
Selecting the right IAM solution depends on your organization’s needs, size, and existing IT infrastructure. Key considerations include scalability, integration capabilities, ease of use, and the ability to adapt to evolving security threats.
How Does Flare Help with Identity and Access Management?
Why use Flare to monitor identity threat intelligence?
Identity theft is the bread and butter of threat actors; they are constantly trying to gain unauthorized access to your systems. Your team needs to be aware of threats as soon as possible. Flare provides your organization with insights and monitoring that can give you an edge when it comes to today’s evolving threat landscape.
How can Flare help your team monitor identity threat intelligence?
It’s not easy to monitor the wave of identity threats to your organization. For one thing, cybercriminals gather and work in secret enclaves across the dark and clear web. For another thing, not all of their conversations are in a language your team will understand. Flare simplifies this process by automatically scanning the clear & dark web — as well as illicit Telegram channels — for suspicious activity. Flare’s AI assistant also translates notifications into English, so your team can read the most relevant threat news without having to learn another language.
What do you get with Flare’s global threat intelligence solution?
- Automated continuous monitoring: Using an automated solution gives you 24/7 coverage, so you will know as soon as there’s a threat.
- Relevant notifications: Flare cuts through the noise, sending you alerts when it detects your organization’s name, employees’ names, domains, IP, or any other key data.
- Proactive cybersecurity: Security can be reactive, but by scanning for potential threats, you can catch breaches early and take steps to protect your data, systems, and networks.
- Translation and contextualization: FlareAI Assist seamlessly translates Russian, Arabic, Spanish, French, and other threat actor forum posts into seamless English summaries that provide rich context for your team.
IAM solutions and Flare
The Flare Threat Exposure Management (TEM) solution empowers organizations to proactively detect, prioritize, and mitigate the types of exposures commonly exploited by threat actors. Our platform automatically scans the clear & dark web and prominent threat actor communities 24/7 to discover unknown events, prioritize risks, and deliver actionable intelligence you can use instantly to improve security. Secure your organization’s identity intelligence with Flare today.
Flare integrates into your security program in 30 minutes and often replaces several SaaS and open source tools. Learn more by signing up for our free trial.
