Getting to Know Identity and Access Management

Your business will, at some point (if it doesn’t already) have a huge amount of data to manage - and not all of it will be the kind of data that all of your employees should be able to access. To minimize the risk that someone will see something that they shouldn’t, it helps to implement identity and access management solutions.

First, let’s clarify exactly what identity and access management is, with a simple example. Consider a business’ website for a moment. There is likely a login option that allows a user to access additional tools and resources. However, one of the business’ clients is going to need much different tools and resources than one of the business’ employees might - and not every employee will need the same access, for that matter. This also goes for your vendors and other business associates - they may need special access to parts of your network as well.

This is where identity and access management proves its value. Using these tools, you will be able to differentiate between different types of users, thereby controlling what they can access.

Is Identity and Access Management Really Necessary?

To answer this question, consider what could happen to your business if you didn’t have identity and access management in place.

Without this solution, there’s nothing to distinguish what information on your system can (and can’t) be accessed by certain members of your organization… after all, there’s no reason for a new hire to have access to your upper-level files.

The combination of keeping track of who is connecting to your organization and controlling what these users are able to access can help you prevent problematic situations. This is critical due to South Dakota having one of the most comprehensive notification laws when it comes to user data being compromised. SB 62 allows for up to $10,000 per day, per instance, if a data breach occurs and your business doesn’t notify in accordance to the law. This is why it is imperative that your business’ data is as secure as possible, and controlling access to your data is essential.

For another example, what if one of your employees was duped by a phishing scam, and their credentials were stolen? With identity and access management, there’s a chance that the scammer will be limited in what they are able to access, based on whose credentials were stolen - and settings can be quickly changed to lock that account out as well.

Furthermore, there are a few government-imposed regulations that dictate additional requirements to your security and data access control - consider HIPAA, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Members of the European Union know all about this, with the General Data Protection Regulation effectively making identity and access management a requirement for any business that operates within the EU, or serves customers that live in its member countries.

What Will Identity and Access Management Do for My Business?

With the help of KT Connections’s solutions, you can better control a variety of options. For instance:

• Verification - Your network will require users of all roles to input authentication credentials, whether that’s in the form of a password or PIN number, allow biometric data to be captured, or simply through their use patterns and behaviors.
  
  
• Authorization - Once a user has been authenticated, their particular permissions come into play. You can control what each user can access on your network, helping to minimize risk and simplify the workflows your users need to deal with.
  
  
• Delegation - Rather than having to attend to any changes that need to be made, your lower-level administrators can instead make these changes, granted permission by your identity and access management system.

Interested in Leveraging Identity and Access Management?

There are many options for you to leverage identity and access management. For instance, Microsoft offers options that give you some flexibility, like the on-premise SharePoint, or the cloud-based Office 365. Reach out to KT Connections to discuss which option is best for your needs and situation - give us a call at 605-341-3873 today!