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Securing enterprise data and resources in today's digital landscape has become more critical than ever. Identity-related security breaches have been on the rise, and they can have serious implications for organizations, such as data loss, financial damage, and loss of customer trust.
According to recent statistics, identity-related security breaches affected over 84% of organizations in 2022. These breaches can occur due to stolen credentials, social engineering attacks, or human error and can cause significant losses for businesses. 78% of companies last year lost money because of identity-related security attacks. Identity management is critical to protecting against these risks, which is why Identity Management Day is so important.
April 11th is an important date for enterprises worldwide - it's Identity Management Day 2023.
This day serves as a reminder of the significance of identity management in protecting sensitive information and resources.
This article will delve deeper into identity management, explore its importance, and provide actionable steps to ensure your enterprise's security.
Identity management ensures that unauthorized users do not get access to systems and resources they are not supposed to see. IdM is focused on user identity, roles, permissions, and policies. We use passwords, biometrics, multi-factor authentication, and other methods to enforce these measures.
An identity-related breach occurs when one of these security measures is compromised by an attacker. The biggest cause of identity breaches is human error, with 82% of breaches involving some human element, such as clicking on a phishing link, installing malware, or revealing credentials in some other fashion.
Last year, credential theft caused over half of all security incidents. These attacks aren't just bad for security; they hurt your company's bottom line.
The good news is that there are steps you can take to prevent identity-related security breaches. Here are five actionable steps you can take to improve your enterprise security.
Don't make it "easier" for employees or vendors to log in just because your company trusts them. Apply strict IdM policies for all users and roles, including employees, third-party vendors, customers, and non-human services.
By applying zero-trust identity processes, you can ensure that only authorized users get access to the systems and resources they need. Threat actors can often steal user credentials and try to access your company's system and its data.
Just like we follow good hygiene to maintain our health, similarly a company must adhere to good identity hygiene. Some ways to implement it are by not sharing passwords among employees, reusing them across multiple accounts (asking employees not to use their personal passwords for official emails or other platforms used for work), or storing them without encryption.
Ensure all employees use a strong password that can't be guessed or brute-forced by an attacker. Good identity hygiene also means regularly changing passwords, storing passwords securely using a password manager, and ensuring that sensitive data is encrypted at rest and in transit.
Watch out for suspicious-looking messages from your boss or colleagues. Check the sender's email ID to see if it matches the name and domain, and look for malicious links. If you see a phishing attempt, report it immediately. Remember, phishing attacks can be compelling, so always err on the side of caution.
Regular training in this regard can better equip employees to identify phishing.
Don't rely only on passwords, which can be compromised. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) ensures the user validates the login attempt before granting access, offering a second layer of security to any login. MFA can be enabled using various methods, including OTP, push notifications, or biometrics such as fingerprint or facial recognition.
Sometimes, companies do not revoke the login ids of former employees or vendors, leaving cracks for threat actors to enter. Automating routine tasks like creating and provisioning users and removing inactive users and roles can reduce the chance of loss of identity.
Automating these processes frees up your engineering team for more important tasks and can eliminate human errors from the equation entirely. This can lead to more efficient and secure identity management.
Identity management is a critical element of enterprise security. With identity-related breaches affecting many organizations, taking proactive steps to safeguard your business is essential.
By celebrating Identity Management Day 2023, and raising awareness about the importance of identity management, we can work towards creating a more secure digital landscape for our businesses.
At we45, we are committed to helping businesses strengthen their security posture through our comprehensive range of security services. From penetration testing and vulnerability assessments to secure coding training and managed security services, our team has the expertise to help you stay ahead of the curve in today's ever-evolving threat landscape.
Contact us today to learn how we can help secure your enterprise against identity-related security threats.
