What Is Identity and Access Management and Its Key Benefits
Tags: security, iamsolutions, iamservices, solutions
Published: 2020-06-18 05:11:56

Since the recent past, the IT industry has seen a significant rise in cyber attacks across the world.

IT firms are obliged to deal with and prepare for a plethora of security issues at all times. However, insider threats, in particular, have become a significant concern for companies everywhere.

Insider threats emerged as one of the most significant drivers of [cybersecurity risks](https://www.stealthlabs.com/) that organizations face today.

These threats are particularly pernicious because of the knowledge, access and information possessed by the insiders that can cause a severe dent to the business. 
 
As per recent studies, the insider threats​ cost organizations USD 11.5 million on average worldwide in 2020, up by ​31% from the past two years. Moreover, the frequency of incidents raised by 47% to 4,716.

However, many businesses are challenged to detect these nefarious acts, often due to limited access controls and the inability to detect insiders' unusual activity.

26% of the 500+ US business executives, law enforcement officials and government managers surveyed reported they could not determine where a cybersecurity breach originated.

This is where **Identity and Access Management (IAM)** emerged as the need of the hour. 

##Defining Identity and Access Management (IAM)

Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a framework of business structures, processes, policies, and technologies that secures, stores and controls user identities and access privileges.

IAM encompasses a host of technologies such as Single Sign-On (SSO), profile management, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and password management that administer and manage access to an organization’s resources.

Identity access management plays a crucial role in any enterprise security plan, as it is inextricably related to the organization’s security and productivity.

###5 Key Benefits of Identity and Access Management (IAM) Systems

**1) Reduced Cyber risks**
IAM facilitates SSO and MFA that eliminates the need for remembering multiple passwords for accessibility. 
Instead, it enables access to the employees by using evidence-based authorization such as answering a personal question that only they would know. 

Moreover, IAM is comprised of advanced encryption tools that protect confidential data, reducing the risk of compromised user credentials.

**2) Centralize access control**
Accessibility plays a prominent role in business operations and security posture. While too much access to specific networks is perilous, too little can impede the business.

IAM promotes perfect access balance by allowing the organizations to deploy centralized policies for the right access privileges. 
It enables centralized management of users in a consistent and scalable way across the enterprise. This not only enhances security posture but also promotes flexibility and ease of management.

**3) Improve user experience**
In the present hyper-connected world, customers are interacting with the organizations through various channels, whether in the cloud or third-party applications.

This is where IAM enables organizations to provide an enhanced user experience through self-service capabilities, unified customer profiles and SSO that facilitate quick and easy communication processes.

**4) Reduce IT Expenses**
Identity access management helps in automating and standardizing many aspects of identity, authentication and authorization management. This means that the businesses will be able to reduce significant labor and operational costs associated with keeping the business landscape secure.

**5) Achieve regulatory compliance**
Government security regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR make organizations accountable for controlling access to customer and employee information. IAM helps organizations comply with the continually changing regulatory requirements concerning data access governance and privacy management.

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