Identity management is a critical component of IT administration. It includes the tools and techniques necessary for capturing, consolidating, distributing, and provisioning accounts. Identity management contains several features, such as identity vaults and integration connections. Whether used by an individual or an entire organization, identity management is vital to IT management.
Eligibility
Identifying eligibility and access control for an entity is an essential step in the identity lifecycle management process. The identity lifecycle includes the creation of identifiers for commodities such as people, organizations, and devices and defining the appropriate access controls. In short, eligibility is an aspect of identity management that ensures that a person or entity is legitimately authorized to access and use a resource.
When an organization is creating or modifying its identity management process, it must consider the entire identity lifecycle, including guest identities. Many organizations manage guest identities, seasonal employees, and contractors. In addition, they must consider the needs of partners and vendors. External identities must be included in the organization’s infrastructure to simplify access management and facilitate smooth collaboration.
Visibility
Visibility is frequently mentioned in cybersecurity and is an essential aspect of identity management. The ability to view the metadata associated with an identity. Access permissions, entitlements, and authorized applications are examples of this. Without visibility, organizations will be vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Visibility is key to managing users and accounts since it helps security teams see which users need to be protected. It also allows them to remove inactive accounts easily infiltrated by hackers. ObserveIT’s platform helps organizations manage the complex processes associated with identity management and automates related tasks.
To help federal agencies successfully integrate identity lifecycle management, the federal government developed a toolkit called the Identity Lifecycle Management Playbook. This document provides guidance and best practices for designing and implementing an identity management process. It helps agencies implement and manage master user records and supports phishing-resistant authenticators. It also provides examples of a unified identity management process that includes centralized identity management and attributes.
Audit
An audit can help identify deficiencies in the process. For instance, an agency may be experiencing an overabundance of orphaned accounts. These accounts are no longer in use and may include active employee accounts or Microsoft service accounts that are no longer used. The best approach to address orphaned accounts is to maintain a list of all available identity data and identify the authoritative systems that hold this data.
An audit can also help identify unauthorized or compromised resources. Integrating identity management with access management allows an organization to implement an automated solution that provides detailed audit documentation and continuously monitors for abnormal access requests.
Reporting
Identity lifecycle management requires a process that allows organizations to track user identity changes. Throughout the identity lifecycle, the process must monitor access and control privileges. The management process also involves the capture of attributes and other evidence. Ultimately, the quality of this data will determine how inclusive and trustworthy the identity is. Furthermore, it can impact program cost and interoperability with other ID systems.
To avoid a deteriorating security situation, it is imperative to track user identity changes. This can be done through centralized reporting. It is essential to know what is happening across the enterprise and to be able to take corrective action if it happens. Reporting can be achieved through cross-departmental integration of identity management software. Furthermore, centralized reporting can help IT identify issues in real-time.
Authoritative Attribute Source
An authoritative attribute source is a repository or system that contains attributes about a person. It is the primary source of identity information and is considered the most accurate and reliable. Based on this information, organizations can make decisions about actions, services, and access based on an individual’s identity.
This process relies on a complex web of systems and data. It requires the integrity of the data in source systems and a granular approach to managing PII. It also requires that organizations replicate any changes to their identity data reliably.
