Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions are gaining prominence in recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses are implementing IAM for customer-centric and Employee monitoring solutions. Starting with some eye-opening statistics, let's examine how it helps businesses and how to customize the IAM solution.

Eye-opening stats for the IAM:

The Ponemon Institute found that the average cost of a data breach is $3.86 million, which could be reduced by $1.56 million by implementing IAM.

PwC pointed out that 52% of businesses are using IAM to improve their customer experiences, while 40% are using it to reduce security risks.

As per a report published in 2020 by MarketsandMarkets researchers, the IAM market is expected to grow from $12.3 billion in 2020 to $24.1 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 14.5%.

What is Identity and Access Management (IAM)?

Organizations use Identity and Access Management (IAM) as a set of guidelines, methods, and processes to control access to resources and manage digital identities. IAM makes ensuring the right person gets timely access to the right resources. IAM is, in other words, digital identity management for networks, applications, and resource access control.

IAM has become more essential than ever with the rise of cloud and digital technology. To maintain the security and confidentiality of the data and safeguard an organization's brand name, managing digital IDs has become essential. IAM systems were once primarily used to control employee access, but they are now being used to give consumers, vendors, contractors, and remote and mobile workers secure access.

How does Identity and Access Management work?

The workings of IAM could be explained in four steps:

1. Identity enrollment:- This involves the creation of the digital identity of individuals and assigning them an access right.

2. Authentication:- Confirming the identity of an individual - that the individual is who they say.

3. Authorization:- Allowing access to the necessary resources at the proper level following their position within the organization.

4. Access management:- It Involves policy enforcement and controlling the level of access.

The four steps of IAM describe enrolling individuals to control access management. Besides these, there are three types of authentication methods in IAM: single-sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and risk-based authentication.

How to customize the IAM solution for your business?

When customizing the IAM solution, several factors should be taken into consideration. Every business and its specializations require a different access solution. These are a few factors to take into account when personalizing IAM, which are listed below.

1. Analysis requirements of your organizations:

As the first stage in customizing, a thorough analysis of the company is necessary to have an awareness of the daily niches in business access control. A review of current security measures and a determination of any potential vulnerabilities should be part of it. The study should also address the issues of who should access it, what should be accessible, and when to access it. It is necessary to give different considerations to clients, suppliers, visitors, employees, directors, remote workers, etc. Customization can start when the specifics of the business, its access needs, and vulnerabilities have been identified.

2. Choose your IAM solution povider:

There are many IAM solution providers in the market. Businesses must choose one that perfectly suits and covers all their need. The best way to choose is to choose one that provides a comprehensive solution for IAM.

For today's IAM system, password and PIN systems are getting outdated, however, passwords opted for multi-factor authentications. Most businesses are now shifting towards biometric authentication as it is more secure and convenient to use. Hence, it is better to have a solution provider who can handle biometric solutions, smart card access, and PIN for a different level of access.

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3. Create an IAM policy:

One of the most important parts of IAM customization. IAM policies for businesses should abide by legal provisions, regulations, and cyber security standards. Also, the policy should cover topics such as authentication requirements, access privileges, level of access, and how to report security incidents. These policies should be designed to ensure that only authorized users can access your sensitive data and systems.

4. Choose the types of authentication:

When an individual uses his/her identity (biometrics, passwords, PINs, or a smart card) with the IAM, it cross-checks the ID with a database to ensure the person is who he claims to be. As security concerns are rising, there are some sophisticated ways to authenticate, which are mentioned below:

Single sign-on (SSO):- Whether it is for customer or employee access, single sign-on simplifies access control with a single login process to get access to multiple applications and platforms and switch between them seamlessly. But be careful about what sources should be added to the SSO system.

Multi-factor authentication:- Businesses can add multiple layers of authentication to the IAM by demanding users submit different forms of information, such as a password, OTP, and a biometric identifier with primary authentication. It is recommended to use multi-factor authentication as a default security precaution when designing your IAM system for high-security applications.

Risk-based authentication:- Risk-based authentication automatically shifts to MFA in case the system detects the employee is accessing not from the office location or private devices. This method is useful for authenticating service employees or employees doing remote work.

5. Integrate with other security systems:

In addition to customizing your IAM solution, you should also integrate it with other security solutions. Firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and other security tools may be used in this. By integrating your IAM solution with these other security solutions, comprehensive protection can be ensured in the organization's system.

Conclusion:

As organizations continue to suffer an increase in security breaches, Identity and Access Management (IAM) is becoming increasingly crucial to company security. A proper, centralized IAM solution can ensure the security of your organization's information assets, helping businesses to maintain a higher reputation and more trust among their customers. While implementing IAM can be complex and challenging, following best practices can help organizations overcome common challenges and implement a successful IAM system.

You may contact Mantra Softech for IAM and any device solutions, including biometrics, attendance tracking, gate control, enterprise access control, a kiosk solution, etc.