Understanding Identity and Access Management
(IAM)
Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a comprehensive
framework of policies, processes, technologies, and tools designed
to ensure the right individuals or entities are granted appropriate
access to resources and data within an organization's information
systems. IAM aims to facilitate secure and seamless interactions
between users, applications, and services while safeguarding
sensitive information from unauthorized access.
Importance of IAM in Modern Organizations
IAM plays a critical role in As organizations embrace IAM serves as the foundational
today's interconnected and digital transformation and layer of an organization's
data-driven world. adopt cloud-based services, cybersecurity strategy,
the need to protect sensitive ensuring the confidentiality,
data and resources from cyber integrity, and availability of
threats becomes paramount. critical assets.
Key Objectives of IAM
Security Enhancement: IAM
User Productivity: IAM enables
ensures that only authorized
efficient user onboarding, 01 users can access resources,
access requests, and password
minimizing the risk of data
management, leading to
breaches and unauthorized
increased user productivity and
05 activities.
satisfaction. 02
Centralized Access Control: IAM
04
centralizes access management, 03
reducing administrative
overhead and ensuring
consistent security policies
across the organization.
Key Objectives of IAM
01
Risk Mitigation: By
Regulatory Compliance: IAM
05 implementing strong
solutions assist organizations in 02 authentication and access
meeting various compliance
controls, IAM helps mitigate the
requirements, such as GDPR,
risk of identity theft, phishing
HIPAA, and PCI DSS, by
attacks, and insider threats.
enforcing data access controls
and maintaining audit trails.
04
03
Introduction to Identity and Access Management
(IAM)
This presentation provides an overview of IAM and its components
IAM Components
Identification Authorization
02
01 03
Authentication Accountability
04
Identification
Recognition and association of Assigning unique identifiers Foundation for authentication
individuals, systems, or entities such as usernames or email and authorization
with digital identities addresses
Authentication
● Verification of claimed identity
● Ensuring entities are who they claim
to be
● Methods include passwords,
biometrics, smart cards, and onetime
passcodes
● Multifactor authentication (MFA)
provides additional security
Authorization
Determining resource accessibility and actions based
01 on policies, roles, and attributes
02 Granting or denying access rights and privileges
Accountability
Tracking and recording
IAM activities
01
02 Tracing actions back to
specific users or entities
Ensuring accountability for 03
unauthorized or suspicious
activities
IAM Lifecycle
The management of identities and access rights follows a cyclical
process throughout a user's lifecycle within an organization. This
lifecycle can be divided into three main stages:
Provisioning
● During user onboarding or account creation, IAM systems facilitate the
provisioning process, where new users are granted appropriate access
rights and privileges based on their roles and responsibilities within the
organization.
Maintenance
● As users change roles, departments, or
responsibilities, IAM systems handle
access updates and modifications. This
includes granting additional
permissions, adjusting privileges, or
revoking access as needed to maintain
security and compliance.
De-provisioning
● When a user leaves the organization or no longer requires access, IAM
ensures proper deprovisioning. Access is revoked, accounts are disabled,
and any residual permissions are removed to minimize potential security
risks.
Improved Security
IAM establishes strong Centralized access control Multi-factor authentication
authentication mechanisms, ensures consistent and (MFA) adds an extra layer of
reducing the risk of well-defined security policies, security, safeguarding against
unauthorized access and minimizing potential security password-related
identity-related attacks, such gaps. vulnerabilities.
as phishing and credential
stuffing.
Enhanced Compliance
● IAM solutions assist organizations in
meeting regulatory compliance
requirements, such as GDPR, HIPAA,
SOX, and more.
● Auditing and accountability features
provide detailed logs of user
activities, facilitating compliance
audits and demonstrating adherence
to data protection regulations.
User Experience Improvement
Self-service password reset and account recovery
01 options empower users to manage their own
accounts, reducing the burden on IT support.
02 Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities allow users to access
multiple applications and services with a single set of
credentials, reducing password fatigue and
enhancing user convenience.
Productivity Gains
● Efficient user provisioning and
deprovisioning processes streamline
user onboarding and offboarding,
enhancing workforce productivity.
● Rolebased access control (RBAC)
ensures users have the necessary
privileges for their roles, preventing
unnecessary delays caused by
access-related issues.
IAM Presentation
This presentation provides an overview of IAM (Identity and Access
Management) and its benefits and challenges.
Cost Savings
Centralized access management reduces
01 administrative overhead and streamlines
identity-related processes, resulting in cost savings.
02 IAM helps organizations reduce security incidents
and mitigate the financial impact of data breaches
and cyberattacks.
Cloud Readiness
Integration with cloud identity providers and
01 standard protocols like SAML and OAuth facilitates
seamless collaboration between different cloud
services.
02 IAM plays a crucial role in enabling secure cloud
adoption by providing a unified approach to
managing identities across cloud and on-premises
environments.
IAM Challenges: Complexity, User
Friction, and Scalability
● IAM implementations can become
complex due to the diverse range of
users, applications, and devices
requiring access.
● Integration with legacy systems and
thirdparty applications may pose
challenges during implementation.
● Striking a balance between security and
user experience is crucial to avoid user
frustration and resistance to IAM
adoption.
IAM Challenges: Complexity, User
Friction, and Scalability
● IAM systems must scale effectively to
accommodate growing user bases and
increasing numbers of devices and
applications.
● Ensuring high availability and
performance during peak usage is
essential for a successful IAM
implementation.
Thank you for your time and attention 🙂
Thank you for your time and attention 🙂
