Cybersecurity was a lot simpler when all users worked within the “network perimeter,” which served as a boundary between the organization’s internal LAN and external networks such as the Internet. Firewalls, intrusion detection systems and other security controls protected internal users and devices from external attacks.
Today, the network perimeter has all but dissolved. Users and devices connect from anywhere and access resources from various public and private clouds. These practices are essential to today’s operations, but they’ve eroded the network perimeter and created openings for increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
In this environment, identity has become the new perimeter. User credentials are the first line of defense against attackers seeking unauthorized access to internal and remote resources. Malicious actors are constantly targeting these credentials, making identity security one of the most important components of any security strategy. Organizations must define, manage and defend user identities to reduce the risk of a devastating cyberattack.
What Is an Identity?
Each of us has multiple identities — personal, consumer, business. To her family a woman might simply be “Sue,” but to her employer Sue is a complex array of user IDs, passwords and access privileges across numerous applications, network resources and cloud services.
If the organization is typical, Sue’s is just one of hundreds or thousands of identities that must be managed and secured. Internal users, remote workers, contractors, business partners, customers, devices and applications all need access to various resources. IT administrator credentials are the most critical because they enable high levels of access to systems. However, identity security must assume that any user might have privileged access to certain resources at certain times.
What Is Identity Security?
Identity security refers to a comprehensive strategy for protecting all user identities within an organization. It treats all identities as a potential vector for attackers to gain access to critical IT assets. A well-designed identity security strategy empowers workers and customers to access the resources they need while preventing unauthorized access to those resources.
Many regulations also require organizations to restrict access to resources and to document the processes and controls used to prevent unauthorized access. What’s more, organizations affected by these regulations have to generate an audit trail that proves compliance to internal or external auditors.
What Are the Elements of Identity Security?
An identity security strategy should be based on the four A’s — authentication, authorization, auditing and awareness. These four elements should work together in a comprehensive approach.
- Authentication. Verifying that the user is who they say they are. A password alone is insufficient, so organizations should use multifactor authentication.
- Authorization. Determining if the user has permission to access a particular resource. Permissions can be granted on a case-by-case basis or based on the user’s role.
- Auditing. Capturing and analyzing identity data to ensure that privileges and access align with company policy. Audits can also be used to prepare reports for regulatory compliance.
- Awareness. Training users to ensure they understand and comply with company policies. This helps create a “human firewall” against identity-related attacks.
Least-privilege access is another critical component. Organizations should establish policies that grant users the minimum privileges they need to do their jobs. All privileges, including machine privileges, should be routinely reviewed to detect unused or unneeded accounts, excess privileges, and other issues.
Why Is Identity Security Critical?
Cybercriminals are far more likely to target user identities than to try to break through firewalls and other defenses. They use phishing to get users to divulge their credentials or launch brute force attacks using credentials harvested in data breaches. A Scale Venture Partners study found that half of organizations had credentials compromised by phishing or third-party attacks in 2023.
According to The Identity Security Alliance 2024 Trends in Identity Security report, 91 percent of organizations had to invoke their incident response plans due to an identity-related security breach in the past 12 months. The top three impacts were distraction from the core business, recovery costs and negative impact on the organization’s reputation.
Conclusion
Perimeter security tools aren’t obsolete. However, they simply aren’t designed to protect the identity perimeter. Let Verteks help you implement the tools, policies and processes to secure user identities and reduce the risk of cyberattack.
