Category: Identity and Access Management

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8 Best Identity And Access Management Best Practices

Since the dawn of the internet era, username and password combinations have remained the primary means of access control for digital systems of all kinds. That means they’re the biggest target for hackers to exploit, as well. And all that’s standing in their way is the identity and access management (IAM) technology businesses rely on to defend their systems and data.

But the fight’s been one-sided so far. That’s because there are countless ways for organizations to leave inadvertent gaps in their credential management policies. And even well-run organizations can fall victim to credential theft. The result is that almost 90% of data breaches now stem from stolen credentials – making unassailable identity and access management a mission-critical task for every business.

To help them in that task, here is an overview of modern identity and access management. We’ll cover what it is, the technologies involved in it, and why it’s so challenging. Then, we’ll discuss eight identity and access management best practices every business should follow to stay safe. Let’s dive in.

What is Identity and Access Management?

Identity and access management (IAM) refers to a combination of technologies, processes, and business policies designed to control access to digital systems and data. It seeks to identify users to grant or deny access to such systems and control what they can do once inside.

On the technology front, IAM typically includes the use of:

  • Single Sign-On (SSO) Systems – centralized authentication to multiple secured systems via a single login credential
  • Two-Factor and Multifactor Authentication – the use of a multi-level login process that includes two or more distinct credential types, like SMS code verification or biometric markers
  • Privileged Access Management (PAM) – control of accounts with elevated access to critical systems, such as administrative accounts and machine accounts

IAM also includes the ways that organizations deploy the above technologies and design processes to support them. These may include things like employee onboarding and deboarding and policies surrounding access rights for staff.

And the number of factors involved in IAM is what makes it challenging. Businesses have to maintain control over several moving parts, and work hard to avoid mistakes. And there’s endless potential for those mistakes. A single failure to remove an unused credential or an accidental granting of inappropriate privilege could lead to a data breach.

IAM Best Practices that Every Business Should Follow

With the cost of errors being so high, no business can afford to have a misstep with its IAM policies and procedures. And getting things right means creating an IAM strategy from the ground up that leaves nothing to chance. Here are eight IAM best practices that go a long way toward achieving that.

1. Define Your Workforce

Any identity and access management effort must first begin with a complete picture of who will need access to company systems and data. And the best place to get that information is from the business’s human resources department. They should have a complete employee roster and detailed information on any third parties the company does business with who require access to company systems.

In an ideal situation, all of that data should be within whatever digital system the HR department uses to do their work. That should make exporting, manipulating, and validating that data a trivial exercise and allow for the creation of individual user accounts for each worker. The process should also form the basis for ongoing data sharing between the business’s HR staff and its IT staff to track changes to the workforce.

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2. Define Identities

The next thing to do is choose an identity and access management platform to serve as the central point of user management. This critical step reduces the complexity of ongoing user management. With the right system in place, user access and provisioning happen through a single interface. This eliminates duplicative work and increases efficiency.

It also makes user automation possible. Most IAM platforms can automate user creation with pre-defined rights sets. That helps maintain proper access controls and reduces the chance of overprovisioning. It also makes removing users easier when necessary. That means less chance of unused credentials lingering to create trouble.

3. Manage Roles

With users defined and managed, the next step is to assign rights to users. This may be done on an individual basis or at the group level. By defining user roles, business data owners gain visibility into users’ access rights to that data. That serves as a second check against overprovisioning. When stakeholders see and can control access to the data they’re responsible for, there’s less chance of errors.

Defined user roles also make ongoing management easier. Managers can assign new rights by adding users to a role and remove those rights by taking that role away. Otherwise, they’d have to manage rights sets on a per-user basis. And in an environment that includes multiple business systems with separate management interfaces, that’s never an easy task.

4. Implement a Workflow

Because business needs change, user access rights do too. And managing that change is a key to maintaining data security. It means granting new access where needed and removing it when necessary. And the only way to do it well is to create a workflow to manage it.

The best way to do this is via a self-service model through a single interface. That way, users have one place to request access, and data owners respond there as well. It also removes the business’s IT staff from the process. Their only role is to maintain the interface itself rather than playing middleman between users and data owners.

5. Automate Provisioning

One of the most time-consuming parts of the IAM workflow is the provisioning of users. In a manual process, creating a new user may involve setting up multiple accounts on separate services and platforms. And each manual account creation carries the risk of a costly mistake. That should make automation a high priority.

With the right identity and access management system in place, it’s possible to automate the whole user provisioning process. With a single click, managers can create users with all the right access rights. And they can alter or remove them just as easily. This removes the element of chance from the process and makes it more efficient, too.

6. Ensure Compliance

These days, businesses often have legal or regulatory requirements connected to the data they control. And that means they have to report on their data access and use processes and remain in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Failure to do so may be costly.

But the IAM process is the perfect place to deploy compliance measures. The best way is to define audit responsibilities for each user role and assign them to the appropriate data owner. Then, create a schedule for them to review each role periodically. The idea is to make sure there’s no inappropriate access allowed. That works to ensure compliance as well as oversight into data access.

7. Create Checks and Balances

Even a permission system based on user roles leaves open the possibility of inappropriate access rights. This can happen if the needs of a given role change but the role definition does not. Or, it can result from data owners assigning individual permissions rather than following proper procedures. That’s an all-too-common occurrence that can undermine even the best IAM practices.

The solution is to implement a system of periodic top-to-bottom permission reviews. This means having data owners review the roles that grant access to their data. If the roles have changed, the definition must change too. And, it means creating a process to identify and remedy inappropriately assigned permissions. The idea is to identify data owners who aren’t following proper procedures and take steps to see that they don’t continue to skirt them.

8. Create an Ongoing Role-Definition Process

Maintaining existing role definitions is important. But as needs change, new roles may be necessary. And old roles may need retiring. That’s why it’s critical to set up an ongoing role-definition process. A collaborative process between data owners, IT staff, and HR is the best way to handle this.

Data owners should provide insight into the work each role handles and what access it needs. HR can determine which (and how many) employees fall into each role. And IT staff can handle the definitions, including role creation and role removal, as necessary. And as long as that process repeats at regular intervals, all of the business’s user roles should remain up-to-date.

The Bottom Line

As the preceding IAM best practices should make clear, there’s quite a bit for businesses to manage. And it should also be clear that they should seek any advantage they can find. We here at Teamstack kept that in mind when we built our identity and access management solution.

It integrates with over 1000 of today’s most popular business platforms and services. And it’s built to enable businesses to create a process in keeping with every one of the IAM best practices discussed here. It takes a difficult mission-critical need and makes it manageable.

And it’s a need that businesses shouldn’t ignore. Not while the incidents of data breaches and theft continue to multiply. And certainly not while the consequences of those incidents are so extreme. But with the right approach and the technology to back it up, no business has to take that chance ever again.

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Extending Active Directory to the Cloud

A directory service is an application that runs on a server and allows the administrator to manage permissions and access to network resources. It is a way companies can take full advantage of the Cloud and secure their online resources.

Using active directory (AD) services, a company can render the best service level and ensure security for all its information.

Directory services are commonly used in company premises and work within the organization’s internal network. They ensure that the information on the system is not accessed through unauthorized means, and all the login attempts are noted for future reference.

These services are useful in managing companies and worker identities throughout the existence of the organization.

Definitions

Extending an active directory is a security service that keeps digital resources and information safe. It limits access and restricts unauthorized access.

With the service, a system administrator gets to manage permissions and access to resources on a network. All data is stored in the form of objects within Active-Directory, and it is typically installed on servers.

A cloud directory, meanwhile, is a structure that organizes directory objects into several hierarchies. These support organizational pivots and relationships across directory information.

It creates a flexible schema for directories, keeping folders organized.

It can also be scaled up to millions of objects and is considered to be very powerful.

Extending the active directory makes identity access management (IAM) an easy process for company employees whenever they are reaching online resources.

It restricts the amount of access that each user can have to a given resource based on their authority level.

Extending the AD also provides a more transparent means of securing information access for modern applications and an easier way of controlling access to the information.

Cloud directory works in a way that is not so different from the Active Directory.

The data used is the only difference. In this case, it is the multi-dimensional data.

It keeps the data organized by forming rich relationships between them. This serves as an IAM platform. It keeps large scale systems organized as an identity provider, and all the users know their position and roles.

Why is there a Need to Head Active Directory into the Cloud?

Active-directory services function effectively in the workplace and at the premises where they control information access. By moving these services to the cloud directory, the service provider’s capabilities increase, making it more reliable.

The Cloud also allows for more accurate account management, which maintains access control for information and directory services using the Cloud.

This move keeps information safe and backed up on stable and reliable platforms such as the Cloud. It also allows for a scaling up of identity services, which ensures that the cloud-based active-directory services comfortably handle an increased number of the customer.

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Why companies need an on-demand identity and access management service

Identity and access management services are necessary to secure information and other applications that employees interact with daily. The availability of an on-demand identity and access management service means that the companies can verify who is trying to access resources and what kind of permissions they have.

The on-demand identity and access management service means that companies can better handle identity anytime a user needs to log into company resources. This process verifies the credentials provided by an information system user and restricting what they get to see on the information system.

Companies will also require this service to keep track of the users and their access behavior on the system’s information. In case of changes made to the information, tracking down who was the last person that accessed the system is simple. The information systems become transparent and easier to account for thanks to readily available information and access logs.

Why there is a Need to Extend AD into the Cloud

Extending an active directory to the Cloud is a huge improvement over traditional identity and access management for information systems.

Moving to the Cloud means more flexibility for the active-directory and an increase in possible capabilities. System administrators can easily make access restrictions and sync all information.

Any change made in one of the devices or servers gets to reflect throughout the entire system. This is important towards keeping users informed about current permission levels and which directories and resources they are allowed to access.

The Cloud is also easier to manage and can be accessed from any location, meaning that system administrators now can work remotely.

They can work from the comfort of their own devices and keep information in sync. A user logging off from a remote resource gets this information synced across the entire ecosystem.

The process of extending the active directory to the Cloud also means that users have easier access to identity information. It also allows for applications to be built around the same identity and access management concept, which simplifies the employees’ work.

Such apps can be useful for syncing company information and extending the currently possible capabilities. Using the Cloud information, the apps make people more productive while simplifying their daily work processes.

Advantages

  1. The active directory feature provides a centralized means of security and resource administration for any company or business. This makes the resources easier to manage, and keeping track of any changes is simple.
  2. Centralized information access. A single point for logging in to access global resources makes the applications secure and safer to use.
  3. Simple customization means that you can tweak the application to meet the data needs of your company.
  4. Remote access. Employees and system administrators can access active directory services from any computer on the network provided the correct credentials.

Disadvantages

  1. The service is OS-dependent and only works with Windows server software
  2. It involves high maintenance costs. Setting it up incurs a lot of money.
  3. If the system stops functioning, so does the rest of the network.

The Bottomline

Active directory services are not something to ignore, especially when identity proves complicated for modern companies and organizations whose staff spreads out across the globe.

With such an identity and access management system, keeping track of information access and restricting access to certain directories becomes much simpler.

Extending these services to the Cloud makes the service access much more comfortable and organized. The users will easily keep track of information access and work remotely to manage online information systems.

Developers can also add cloud capabilities to modern web applications, which ensure that the employees work with peace of mind.

Teamstack

Teamstack Cloud Directory is a typical Active Directory service provider that can help businesses securely manage users and groups. Users can be easily created within the cloud directory or imported from external sources.

The data is all synchronized in real-time and always up-to-date. It also allows for more powerful control of users as well as authentication policies. Check it out at the Cloud Directory Website.

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10 Signs You Need To Upgrade Your Legacy IAM

Are you uncertain if your IAM solution is comprehensively addressing your identity management challenges? It seems all isn’t well, although you’re still managing. However, you may only be solving issues temporarily.

In reality, you may be adding unnecessary complexity and costs to a solution that is offering you minimal benefits.

If you’re still unclear if it’s time to migrate to a better solution, read this article. Check if any of the following signs apply to you.

What Is Legacy IAM?

Identity access management (IAM) incorporates all the processes, policies, and products employed to manage and regulate user identities. It defines the access privileges and roles each user in a network enjoys. It also determines the cases in which access may be granted or denied. In this case, users may be your customers or employees. Besides, it also integrates the security and productivity features in your entire business.

These systems offer the tools that administrators need to track the following:

  • user activities,
  • change their roles,
  • enforce policies or create reports based on user activities

These systems ensure users are compliant with government regulations and company policies. The identity access management systems are under the umbrella of IT security and data management systems. These systems are vital in ensuring data, systems, and applications are only accessible to authorized users.

Why Should You Modernize Your Company’s Identity Access Management System?

As we’ve seen, these systems are a critical part of any business or organization’s security and productivity plans. If you’re using a system that offers compromised user standards, you allow unauthorized users to access corporate information.

Business leaders and IT teams must do all they can to overcome increased organizational and regulatory pressure. They must ensure access to corporate assets is limited to authorized personnel. That can’t be possible unless they are implementing an excellent identity and access management system.

The system audits all corporate assets in the cloud and on-premise and controls access to these assets. These cloud-based identity management systems comprise regular updates to bring in new features. These features include analytics, biometric and behavioral capabilities that ensure that the system is functioning optimally and incorporates new technologies. That’s why businesses need to modernize their solutions regularly.

If any data breach occurs in your company, as the CEO, you will bear the burden.

Therefore, it’s crucial to check if your system shows any signs of replacement and take the necessary action to avoid such occurrences.

Work with your IT department to ensure compliance and implement their recommendations to ensure your network is safe, secure, and up-to-date.

Signs That It’s Time to Update Your Company’s Identification System

1. Increasing Apps Integration Requirements

If your IT experts can no longer sustain the demand for integrating the latest technologies into your security and productivity systems, it’s time to reconsider if you should modernize your identity access solution.

Here’s good news: modern solutions offer better, affordable, secure, and hassle-free ways of adding or removing applications in your system. These systems allow all administrators to effectively control who accesses company information, whether in the cloud or on the premises.

2. You Have a Must-Have App or System That Isn’t Covered by Your Legacy system

Do you have an app or system that’s widely used in your business but is not covered by your current solution system?

You definitely need an upgrade.

It’s essential to consider upgrading to a new identity access management system that will cater to your enterprise’s apps and systems.

Systems and apps beyond your existing system’s scope mean your team will have to manually address identity and access issues. And this means increased workload.

These manual manipulations are prone to many errors and can cause breaches to occur. The best solution is to implement a solution that covers all systems and apps in your network.

3. No More Updates for Your Legacy system

The modern business landscapes demand the use of more robust identity and access technology and controls to counteract the increasingly complex and stringent regulatory requirements.

It’s time to move to a better solution if your legacy access management system isn’t keeping up with the latest technology.

There is no need to continue paying license and maintenance fees for an outdated identity access system. Modern cloud-based systems offer smart options such as self-service password and embrace machine learning and artificial intelligence to make the systems faster and more efficient.

If the system is no longer supported, it can increase the vulnerability of your network to attacks. It may even be unable to integrate with your new apps and devices, which will hurt your growth and productivity.

4. Lack of Specific Software Features

Technology is changing very fast. A top system in the last three years may not cope with authentication capabilities and integration methods today. It may also be more expensive to maintain. If your legacy system becomes incompatible with new techniques and your business environment, it’s time to consider modernizing it.

5. Your Legacy System Is Not Accessible To External Partners

Traditional identity systems were designed for a more closed workforce. This means they cannot offer temporary users such as customers, contractors, and other external user access to business resources.

Fortunately, the modern identity and access management systems provide new environments that ensure your customers, suppliers, and contractors can access information and data in your system without any hurdles. If this is your case, you need to upgrade to a modern cloud-based system.

6. Usability, Performance, and Scalable Problems

As your business grows, user accounts, roles, and capabilities should scale with it. In a few years, you may find the system that was once sufficient no longer serves your needs. It could be showing slower logins, breaches, and other limitations. If you are experiencing any of these issues, the best option would be to seek a robust replacement.

7. Erroneous Manual Processes

If your company is still practicing manual access certification and identification, it’s time to install a modern identification system.

Manual processes are prone to abuse of privileges, many errors, audit findings, outdated information, and decreased productivity due to wastage of employee time.

8. Increased Third-Party Access

If the number of external users accessing your network increases, the risk of breaches increases. This means you need a robust and comprehensive identity and access management system. Third-party access by your clients, suppliers, contractors, and vendors brings in extra concerns in your legacy IAM.

If your system cannot extend controls to other networks, it’s more vulnerable to attacks. It’s therefore vital to install an identification system with automated provisioning and de-provisioning to mitigate the risks that come with third party access and at the same time maintain the required access levels.

9. Audit Findings

When you encounter an audit finding in your legacy system, whether self-reported or exposed by external auditors, it’s a clear indication that your system needs to be modernized.

Imagine discovering that your former employees still access your network. Or other unauthorized individuals can access or revoke privileges implemented in the past. It’s a warning about your identity management system.

Audit findings attract several regulatory authorities’ penalties; that’s why you should not take audit findings lightly. Compliance isn’t optional, but it’s a mandatory exercise that you should implement to the letter.

10. Emerging Compliance Regulations

As laws on data security continue to tighten, the existing solution may no longer be effective. Regulations such as HIPAA, SOX, PSD2, GDPR, financial services laws, and regional data protection laws demand you use a fool-proof system.

Instead of implementing the new demands on your existing system, the best option would be to replace your system.

If you are not in control of your network and the credentials of all individuals accessing your business information and resources, you are staring at possible non-compliance penalties.

It’s even worse if you’re in an industry with strict data protection laws, such as healthcare.

In this case, you need an access system with comprehensive monitoring and reporting features. The solution is to modernize your identity management system.

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Our Identity Access Management System

It’s vital to ensure you’re using an effective identity system.

Your IT team should always evaluate your current identity access solution to ensure any vulnerabilities are identified and addressed immediately.

It’s essential to choose a cloud identity management system that can accommodate your increasing number of internal and external users.

Teamstack is an excellent cloud identity management system. It integrates with more than 500 applications to offer secure and convenient network access to your workforce.

This system will address potential cybersecurity risks in your system by employing modern technologies such as privileged access management, Single Sign-On (SSO), and multifactor authentication.

Contact us today if you require a comprehensive modern identity access management system. Our goal is to ensure you get a modern solution that will guarantee you’ll never experience any data breach besides staying in compliance with all regulatory requirements.

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The 6 Reasons Why You Need An Automated IAM Process

Face it, your company has an identity problem. Not that it doesn’t know what it is. Rather, too many people have access to critical accounts that, if used, can result in serious problems. These include broken processes and, in a worst-case scenario, hacked data. What you need is access management automation to keep track of user access, segregation of duties, and ID removal.

What is IAM?

Simply put, IAM is a process that permits administrators to add an employee or customer into a company’s IT environment. Additionally, it provides them with the necessary access privileges for various applications.

Why it’s Needed?

There are several reasons to implement access management.

  • It adds an extra level of security to your enterprise’s network.
  • It’s a proactive way of segregating duties between different departments.
  • It helps you keep track of an employee’s productivity.
  • It is a useful tool for organizations that consider expanding over time.

IAM improves the overall benefits of internal employees or external customers. Through extra layers of verification, like multi-factor authentication (MFA), they can access multiple platforms without remembering a large number of passwords. On top of this, managers have an easier time reviewing activity, tracking permissions, and minimizing security breaches.

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Why Do Businesses Still Run on Manual IAM Platforms?

There are a few reasons why more than two-thirds of businesses still rely on manual entry and management. One is size. Smaller companies might feel they don’t need to automate processes.

A second reason is their budget. The implementation of an automated IAM system not only requires software and hardware. Training is also required to ensure the proper steps are taken. If an enterprise doesn’t have a full-time IT department, then the cost of a software as a service (SaaS) agency must be added to a budget. Whether big or small, some companies don’t feel automation is worth the cost.

Another reason is complacency. If a manual IAM installation has worked for them then there’s no reason to make a change. Unfortunately, managers only see the top layer of operations. They might ignore or be in denial of the underlying issues.

Benefits of Access Management Automation

No matter the size of the company, there are benefits to an automated IAM setup. Here are 6 of them.

1. It’s a centralized system.

Automated IAM is designed to be centralized so information entered on a user is populated from that platform. This means your IT admins don’t need to create users on each system through manual entry or a custom-built script.

2. Creating, changing, and removing user information is time-consuming.

User administration can be a full-time job that takes away from other important tasks. When the process is automated it takes a few minutes to enter the information and have it populate across the network. In fact, some packages do it automatically through an online form.

3. You increase coordination with HR.

Automated IAM allows your human resources department to work more closely with department managers. Rather than search a huge database, HR representatives can quickly pull up an employee and make changes that populate across all platforms. For instance, they record if someone has been transferred, quit, or received a bonus or promotion.

4. Simplifies segregation of duties

Segregation of duties is critical for any organization, and it’s hard for department managers and HR representatives to keep up with all the changes. Automated IAM provides templates for each division. As a result, there’s no longer a need to manually select permissions from an extensive list.

5. Ease of use increases for everyone

Though the initial push might take some time, employees and customers have an easier time to set up their devices or access niche apps. They don’t need to request an ID for every new platform they access.

6. You gain full control of your IT infrastructure

It’s difficult to be in control of IT security when you continue to use a manual IAM solution. When you implement access management automation it gives you full control of the environment. Thus, you can block or release permissions should a system get compromised for one reason or another.

Industries That Benefit From Automated IAM

Practically every business benefits from access management automation. Not only does it simplify the population of the network but it also increases productivity in the teams that once had to manually handle these operations.

The biggest benefactor of automated IAM is corporations with a large number of employees or customers. Handling the manual addition, modification, and deletion of users regularly takes a long time and leads to mistakes.

Another industry that benefits from this form of IAM is eCommerce. Especially if the companies within the sector utilize the Cloud. Access management automation allows administrators to quickly add users and extra layers of confirmation like MFA. This secures logins and reduces the risk of cyberattacks.

Those sectors that require personally identifiable information (PII) from their customers also need automated IAM. This can be a healthcare organization or a regularly visited shopping site like Amazon.

First, it prevents them from accessing parts of the network that should normally be blocked from unauthorized users. Second, it keeps their PII safe from cybercriminals or ransomware attacks.

Words of Caution

Overall, IAM is a secure way to handle a user’s permissions within an IT infrastructure. However, there are some cautions to consider when you decide to implement this solution.

Most importantly, do not implement a DIY access management service. There are too many factors within this type of platform that result in security gaps. Since the role of an automated IAM is to protect IDs and the people that utilize them, lack of protocols leads to serious circumstances.

These gaps are also part of the general risks of any type of access management automation. Others include:

  • Availability of resources (IT or HR administrators) to manage the service.
  • Ownership of data.
  • Budget considerations.
  • Complex designs that are difficult to administer.
  • Ineffective user rollouts.

All of these risks are mitigated via a thorough project management setup.

The Bottom Line

Identity and access management processes and technologies play an important role in security strategies. Organizations and IT professionals that utilize them, particularly in automated form, need to ensure these strategies are robust enough to deal with new threats. For this, you may need some additional support. That is where Teamstack can help.

Our staff of subject matter experts on automated IAM is available to review your current environment and make the necessary recommendations to streamline user access processes. This is critical as the internet and network infrastructures continue to change. Reach out to us today for a free quote.

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Active Directory Vs Cloud Directory

Did you know that according to Gartner, 14 percent of a company’s budget can be saved by using public cloud adoption? Due to the current cloud transformation, you are most likely wondering if a better alternative is available for Active Directory.

What is an Active Directory?

An Active Directory consists of Microsoft software providing you with information access and organization within the directory of your operating system. Your active directory or AD is a link between your values and objects.

The idea is similar to the contacts app you have stored on your mobile device.

The objects are your individual contacts, with the phone numbers, emails, and addresses as your values. Your objects include a lot more than users and people including group objects like printers and computers.

What is a Cloud Directory?

When cloud directory services were first created, IAM or identity and access management services were available from the cloud.

A provider managed and hosted your server but all of your cloud directory services including software, load balancing, security, and configuration remained your responsibility.

As time passed, cloud directory services began to include new capabilities and components including support for nearly all IT resources. As a result, cloud directory no longer requires on-premises software or hardware for a substantial improvement in efficiency.

Why is an Active Directory Important?

AD is important for the organization of computers, users, and more. It is because it enables IT administration to organize the entire hierarchy of a company, the computers on a network, the users able to access your storage.

Why Do You Need an Alternative?

Web-based applications became extremely popular after AD. Linux and Mac systems replaced Windows workstations. This enabled the launch of cloud directory services. It also revolutionizes file storage, development tools, infrastructure, and processing.

This made IT network extremely different than in the past.

AD services are not designed for integration with the cloud, web-based applications, or Linux or Mac systems. Once you began using the new resources available for your company, third-party solutions became necessary for your AD to establish a connection with non-Microsoft systems, networks, and applications.

Eventually, the only way you could maintain identity management was with AD.

Your next issues included the much higher cost and new difficulties for your IT administration and end-users. This was the reason your only option was for your IT department to keep their on-premises infrastructure.

Unfortunately, you were not able to take optimal advantage of the lower costs and efficiency of an IT cloud directory. The companies that are able to leverage their identity management gained advantages.

This included not needing to upgrade hardware every couple of years and concerns regarding maintenance and availability. Cloud directory services became a better option than AD by embracing the numerous resources you are using on a daily basis.

This is when the cloud directory became so important as an alternative to AD. Modern cloud directory can change your identity access management services.

Cloud Identity as an Alternative

The result is replacing AD with a cloud directory to ensure better service for the cloud era. Cloud identity services are now the cloud’s core identity provider offering IT administration a single solution for centralizing your system and user management.

Cloud directory services also provide you with access to remote and local services, wireless and wired networks, virtual and physical storage and applications based on SAML and LDAP.

This eliminates your IT department’s concerns regarding management, maintenance, and availability. Your cloud directory services handle everything, enabling your IT department to receive the benefits of a cloud directory as opposed to an AD.

Pros and Cons of an Active Directory

Pros:

  • Users can log in using the same credentials used somewhere else.
  • You no longer require a password and username for Outlook emails.
  • Setting up and using your directory is easier.
  • You can create your computer policies to secure and update your workstations automatically.
  • Domain names are provided at a faster speed.
  • Users can set permissions to share resources including printers and files
  • Eliminates the need to create and maintain your company’s user accounts
  • Your network is managed from a single point.
  • Cloud directory services are more secure than the others available.
  • Scalability increases.
  • Your service is easier to manage, control, and administrate.
  • Viewing of all your user information using a simple identity management

Cons:

  • Using an AD directory is expensive due to the cost of your Windows server licenses. Your server hardware may require an update to run your Windows server.The cost of using your infrastructure is most likely high.
  • Your Active Directory is only used with Windows server software.
  • If your AD goes down, your network will as well.
  • Your infrastructure is more complicated for your users.
  • Your maintenance costs are high.
  • Setting up your network requires excellent planning.
  • Your network is more likely to be hacked.
  • An incorrectly set up network will require money and time to have to set up all over again.

Pros and Cons of a Cloud Directory

Pros:

  • Cloud directory services are one of the least expensive options for using, upgrading and maintaining your system.
  • You receive a massive number of IT resources.
  • Your storage capacity is unlimited eliminating any concerns regarding the availability of space and storage.
  • Your software integration is a lot easier, occurs automatically and no additional efforts are necessary for integrating your software and applications.
  • There is no need for premises or infrastructure which decreases your operational costs while eliminating administration costs.
  • You receive 24/7 connectivity through your service level agreement.
  • You receive a web-based user interface making installation unnecessary for accessing your applications, services, and software.
  • Using cloud services offers your company reliability with a service platform you manage to ensure a much better IT infrastructure in-house.
  • As soon as your cloud registration is complete, you can access your information and system no matter where you are located provided you have internet connectivity. This eliminates time-zone and geographical barriers.
  • The management capabilities of your IT department is enhanced and simplified.
  • Your data can be stored a lot easier in the cloud to provide you with backup from your provider to take care of any recovery issues you experience.

Cons:

  • Since you must surrender all of your company information to your service provider, you need to be careful about which provider you use.
  • Storing your information through the cloud can result in hack attacks and external threats.
  • Ensuring you have a good backup is extremely important.
  • You require a service provider with excellent maintenance standards and support for your server to remain connected 24/7.
  • Your service provider must be trustworthy because they will own and maintain all of your cloud services.

Never compromise security
for convenience, choose both!

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Cloud Directory Services

Teamstack provides a cloud directory services, enabling management of all your permission levels, authentication methods, groups, and users in a secure and intuitive web interface.

Your group and user profiles can be customized enabling you to set specific settings and policies for every level. We provide you with complete control over your teams, organization, and company.

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The Benefits Of Automated IAM

Did you know that around 66% of businesses struggle with manual management of access to systems and applications used by their employees? The world has gone digital and thus calls for automation of specific business processes. As a result, businesses can benefit from having automated IAM or Identity and Access Management.

IAM is among the few concepts that have had to change to improve the security and access to data.

Disadvantages of Manual IAM

Identity and Access Management involves managing those with access to certain information.

Not having an automated IAM will pose detrimental effects on the business in this modern era. The disadvantages of having a manual IAM system include:

  • Lack of evidence for access activities
  • Manual IAM leads to delayed action and unpremeditated disclosure of data.
  • Manual filing takes up more space
  • It takes longer to access the required authorization information
  • Manual IAM systems make it difficult to make changes
  • Lack of security, thus putting vital data at risk of loss or theft.
  • Manual IAM systems are prone to damage and misplacement.

Companies need to ensure that they comply with the security policies for data and information protection.

What is Identity and Access Management?

Identity and access management comprises the policies and technologies that ensure appropriate access to technology resources and data. Identity management establishes the identity of a user by verifying credentials and passwords before allowing access.

Access management ensures the user has access to specific resources on the web, server, computer, documents, or applications.

The identity and access management systems work to perform three essential functions. Here are some basic functionality concepts for IAM systems.

Identity

The system helps in creation, deletion and management of identities. The identities are a combination of various elements to recognize each user on the system uniquely. It can be a password or a personal ID.

Modern IAM systems come with biometric systems that utilize fingerprint and retina scans to verify user identities.

Access

The IAM system allocates specific rights to every user that is on the application. Users assume a digital identity that enables access controls to be assigned and access rights evaluated against granted privileges.

This concept allows companies to grant appropriate access to those entitled and with the rights. User access on the application is trackable on the systems as well.

Entitlement

The users are allocated the application services based on the right and allowed access level. The services that the user enjoys from the application will depend on the level of clearance and access rights granted.

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for convenience, choose both!

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Why Use IAM?

Identity Access Management automation has improved various activities that bolster the security of the data and company digital resources. The capabilities of identity automation include:

Authentication

This process involves the verification of the user’s identity and confirming the status of the user trying to access the resources.

Authorization

This involves managing authorization information and specifies the type of operations that the user can perform. The actions that a user can perform on a system are determined by the privileges allocated.

Roles

Identity automation makes it possible for roles to be assigned to each user based on the rights of access. The user will have different positions on the system from those of the administrator.

Delegation

This process allows one administrator to perform changes on the system and will enable another user to perform the tasks on behalf of the admin.

Identity access management automation has improved the security of vital company data and personal information. It is for this reason that there has been a notable increase in demand for security as a service tool.

Why Have An Automated IAM?

So you’ve got IAM in place–but why should it be automated? Below are just some of the benefits of having an automated identity and access management:

Reduces the probability of human error

This is perhaps one of the most important benefits–if not the most important– of having IAM automation. Mistakes are less likely to be made with an automated system in place. The system consists of sophisticated algorithms that make it efficient in verification and management of authorization information.

Having automated IAM systems restrict access to the appropriate parties. This way, it will be hard to commit mistakes that would lead to data loss or leakage of sensitive and personal information.

With a reduction in human error, the system makes it secure to store identity data and ensure that authorization is accurate.

Reduces IT department workload

Having automated IAM systems obviously impacts the IT department in a positive way. Take for instance, did you know that password management is one of the most common reasons people call the IT department for help?

When your organization has an automated IAM, it enables users to reset their own passwords. The system automatically recognizes the user and compares the allocated rights before authorizing access to the resources.

The IT department doesn’t have to keep an eye on everyone accessing and using the system. As a result, it alleviates IT staff burden and allows them to do more significant tasks.

Those in the IT department also don’t have to follow up on those logging into the system. The system allows specific tasks to be performed faster and more efficiently.

Increases end-user productivity

By reducing the workload on the IT department, they can focus on the management of the system. Also, an automated IAM system allows the end-user to change between processes without having to key passwords.

Through the IAM automation, users can focus on their work and using the resources and not management. The user doesn’t have to wait for the admin approval before performing specific tasks.

The system allocates users with the rights and privileges to access the system and will keep the user confined to those capabilities.

Audits and compliance are easier, cheaper and better

With a manual IAM system, it would be hard to keep track of the available users on the network and thus making security audits complicated an expensive.

Automation of identity access management makes it easier to comply with the required cybersecurity policies. Automation also makes it easier to save and record user activity on the systems and thus provide useful audit data.

A company that has invested in identity access management automation will spend less in retrieving relevant data. The automated system updates accounts, personal identity information, passwords, and other login information, making sure they are compliant.

Eliminates deprovisioning nightmare

Imagine having an employee moved to a different role in your company, thus needing a whole new set of credentials or access. Without an automated IAM, your IT department will have to manually check all credentials of the employee across the database, and then undergo onboarding process.

Now imagine if the employee leaves the company. The system administrator or user may forget to revoke individual permissions for the employee after accessing sensitive information. Failure to cancel particular user rights can lead to costly mistakes that may lead to compliance issues.

Automated IAM systems make it easier to revoke specific user access authority after a while. The admin doesn’t have to worry about revoking certain rights from a user after the user leaves the company.

Once the user logs out, authority and authentication require those rights to be fed into the system again. This process allows the company to avoid security breaches that would lead to loss or leakage of sensitive data.

Turn to Teamstack for IAM Solution

The need for security as a service tool gave rise to cybersecurity companies ready to provide their security services. As the world grows more digital, modern companies must stay updated and keep their system in the loop of security compliance.

But having an IAM in place clearly isn’t enough. The key is in automation.

The team at Teamstack offers solutions such as:

Single Sign-on

It involves the means of authenticating identity to all allowed resources without the requirement to provide more than one authentication factor. Teamstack provides single credentials across the system once.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

This process allocates the allowed resources to the identity only after identity verification with more than one series of authentication passwords. Teamstack employs various authentication factors depending on the security levels of your organization.

Read more about MFA here.

Secure Cloud Directory

Teamstack allows organizations to manage their users, permission levels, and authentication process through an online and remote interface. The business can manage the approved users and detect any fraudulent activities on the system.

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What You Should Know About Cloud Identity Management

With current digital transformation, everything in the business world is changing how we communicate and how businesses operate. Cloud migration offers myriad opportunities and benefits regardless of the industry or size of an enterprise. 

With the cloud, you can scale your enterprise’s IT environment, consolidate your corporate assets, and ultimately improve your profit margin. 

Reasonably so, many enterprises are considering it over the traditional on-premise infrastructure. According to Cloud Security Alliance, nearly 70% of enterprise organizations are migrating data to the cloud. In contrast, LogicMonitor’s surveys stated that around 83% of enterprises would be in the cloud by the end of 2020.

However, many organizations have cited the security of cloud computing and lack thereof as the biggest obstacle to full adoption. Cloud infrastructures are vulnerable to various kinds of attacks and privacy issues.

That is why the need for identity access management mechanisms. Issues like how organizations identify the customers, how they store data, and how they control access rights to data are becoming important. Understandably so, more companies are turning to cloud identity.

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What is Cloud Identity?

Cloud identity is a lot like the typical enterprise-level identity and access management (IAM). Identity and access management is a solution that protects a user’s credentials. This is done by authenticating users as they log in to networks and databases. As a result, organizations control who gets access to what and by what means.

Let’s break it down further.

Identification is when a user claims to have an identity, in most cases, a username. Authentication proves that the credentials given by the user are correct.

As simple as it may sound from the user’s end, it is a complex issue on the business end. With consumer’s data scattered everywhere and anywhere, companies have to manage their identities and neatly integrate them.

Now, instead of dealing with on-premise databases, cloud identity management deals with cloud infrastructure, whose demands are radically different.

Why do you need IAM?

Identity and access management is a critical part of any enterprise security plan. It delicately links to organizations’ productivity in today’s digital economy.

If a rogue user compromises the user’s credentials, it becomes a vulnerable entry point for an organization’s network and information assets.

Using identity management is important to safeguard the company’s information assets against the rising threats of ransomware, hacking, phishing, and data breach.

In many organizations, you will find users having more access privileges than they need. A robust IAM system will add an essential layer of protection to limit users’ access to resources they require.

The identity and access management systems can boost a business’s overall productivity by reducing the complexity and cost of safeguarding users’ credentials and access.

Also, with IAM, workers can remain productive in a variety of environments– whether working remotely at home or in the office.

Benefits of IAM

Implementing identity and access management can give you a competitive edge in distinct ways.

In some situations, you will need to provide users outside your organization access to internal systems. By doing so, you will open your network to business partners, contractors, and suppliers, consequently increasing the company’s efficiency.

By using identity management systems, you can reduce the number of help-desk calls to IT support teams regarding password reset.

IAM systems allow administrators to automate the process of password recovery and other time consuming redundant tasks.

A well-managed Identity system is at the cornerstone of a secure network. The IAM system requires companies to define their access policies. It also specifies who has access to what and under what conditions they have the rights.

By having strict access to resources, IAM systems reduce the risk of internal and external data breaches. This is important in this period where internal and external data breaches are on the rise.

As previously mentioned, IAM systems can enhance your organization’s regulatory compliance by providing the tools to implement and audit security measures and policies.

Cloud Management is your responsibility

Cloud adoption does not ease IAM responsibilities.

Much like on-premise, cloud database identity and access management remain to be your responsibility. You must scale up your cloud identity management as your cloud infrastructure scales up near-infinite digital expanses.

A simple configuration error can cause uncontrollable access to data. Because of the accessibility of cloud infrastructure, hackers will often have more access to the databases than in an on-premise environment.

Teamstack’s Access Management Systems

Password Protection

As mentioned earlier, user credentials allow for the most convenient access into the endpoints and networks. Therefore, instead of focusing on attacking the endpoints with malware, malicious hackers now focus on stealing privileged user credentials. With phishing attacks, hackers create the best opportunities to get certificates while subverting the user’s standard filters.

In other situations, the hackers need not steal credentials. Instead, they have to guess. With business users managing their passwords, it puts the businesses at risk because users are often not so critical with their passwords. They typically use weak passwords, some of which they have used in multiple places and or store them in insecure places like spreadsheets, phones, or as documents in the server. Hackers effortlessly crack simple passwords. Reused passwords invite credential stuffing attacks.

As more businesses migrate to cloud computing solutions and digital transformation, there is a dire need to improve on the way the company tracks customers’ data. Cloud identity lets your organization merge consumers’ data in a system that treats every customer as a unique and dignified individual.

At Teamstack, we offer identity as a service (IDaaS) to help you control user access to resources from a hosted environment. Our systems allow you to have a central location to manage the identities of cloud administrators in your organization and control their access to the services we offer. Our IDaaS provides simple and faster management tools for deploying resources to your users.

If you are looking for a transformative makeover of your organization’s cloud identity environment, TeamStack’s cloud-based services can deliver a secure, business-friendly IAM.

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What Is Identity Access Management (IAM)?

Identity access management (IAM) encompasses the policies, processes and products for the management and regulation of user identities. Access is in reference to the actions performed by the user. In addition, due to the digital global economy, IAM also links the productivity and security of the entire enterprise.

The Specifics of IAM Authorization

We understand that the design of IAM systems must enable identification, authentication and authorization. Importantly, only the correct individuals should be able to access hardware, IT resources, computers and software apps. Some of the key IAM components for an IAM framework are:

  • Database with the access privileges and identities of the users
  • Tools for monitoring, deleting, creating and modifying access priveledges
  • System used for access history and auditing login

IT departments, which are responsible for data management and cybersecurity usually handle the IAM functions. The tools include identity repositories, provisioning software, monitoring and reporting apps and password management. We see API security as essential for single sign-ons between user-managed access and mobile applications. This enables the management of personally identifiable data and IoT device authorization by security teams.

The Importance of Identity Access Management

We have found IAM is a crucial aspect of enterprise security plans. Moreover, in today’s digitized economy is IAM directly linked to the productivity and security of the whole identity governance. We have seen compromised user standards allow an entry point into the information assets and networks of numerous organizations.

The added Value of Identity Access Management

Currently, we expect the cost of ransomware damage to be more than $5 billion this year. As a comparison, it would be an increase of 15 % of the damages happened in 2016. That is why IAM became an important tool nowadays. In other words, IAM solutions provide a safeguard for informational assets. They provide protection for the increased threat of ransomware and malware attacks including phishing and criminal hacking.

Commonly, a lot of organizations provide users with more access privileges than required. Identity management software provides an additional protection layer by making certain user access policies and rules remain consistent throughout the organization.

Software For Identity and Access Management

Identity management software enables companies to increase access to all information systems using a wide range of SaaS tools, mobile apps and on-premises applications without compromising security. When outsiders receive better access, collaboration can be driven in numerous ways as employee satisfaction, revenue, enhanced productivity or research and development. When identities are well-managed, the organization has better control, which means that the risk of both external and internal breaches will decrease. We feel this is very important due to the increased frequency of these threats.

The Ability of Identity and Access Management software

With its several functions, the IAM might enhance the business productivity of the whole company. IAM offers users the ability for:

  • Setting up and configuring uses, roles and groups to control which users receive authorization for access to company resources
  • The creation and implementation of identity access management policies for restricting or granting specific permission for a wide range of resources
  • The implementation of multi-factor authorization
  • The implementation of a password policy in alignment with the internal security controls of the organization

Choose security and convenience with Teamstack

Teamstack, with its excellent reputation and high standards, provides workforces with convenient and secure access through an access and cloud identity management platform. Teamstack provides organizations with critical IAM solutions including:

  • Single Sign-on: From the perspective of the user, Teamstack is an excellent option as the need to sign into numerous applications individually has been eliminated. Furthermore, the IAM solutions only require Teamstack credentials to be entered once access to every application has been achieved. Currently, Teamstack has established integration with over 500 popular applications to ensure users are granted priveledges for single sign-on.
  • Multi-Factor Authentication: Teamstack is about a lot more than a simply ease-of-use. The key goal is making the process of offboarding and onboarding incredibly smooth for team members. Teamstack can use different factors for authentication across numerous security levels for the entire organization.
  • Secure Cloud Directory: Our Cloud Directory enables organizations to manage groups, permission levels, users and authentication methods through a secure and intuitive web interface. In this case, Teamstack ensures that users are synced using real-time. The organization can oversee all the approved users while identifying any fraudulent activities. This is one of many reasons Teamstack is able to provide exceptionally strong identity and access management tools.
  • One-Click Provisioning: One of the best tools we offer is our one-click provisioning feature. Only one click is necessary for the addition or removal of a user from the organization’s applications. The need to monitor which employees have access to specific applications and sharing passwords individually has been completely eliminated.

The bottom line

To conclude, Teamstack simultaneously increases the security and production of workers in a range of environments. Numerous aspects of secure user access can be automated for enterprise data and networks.

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Above all, since all IT positions in modern society have become security positions, we have found these benefits critical. The shortage of cybersecurity workers is global with penalties for noncompliance with relevant regulations. Noncompliance can cost companies millions or billions.