The tech industry is evolving at lightning speed, and with it, cyberattacks are surging. In this year’s April IT governance data breach report, the education industry suffered the highest number of data breach incidents followed by the healthcare industry, while the IT services and software sector had the most number of records breached.
Why? Often, it is the lack of an access certification process that leaves an organization defenseless against privilege exploitation. Users with unnecessary privileges beyond their job role, coupled with a weak access management system, make organizations a magnet for cyberattacks and data theft.
Cybercriminals are readily cashing in by exploiting such access permission loopholes, as they need not try hard to gain elevated permissions and access confidential data. So, it is more crucial now than ever for network and system admins to secure access to their organization’s data. First off, let’s examine some recent cyberattacks that had adverse impacts on businesses and their customers.
Cyberattacks unmasked
On May 15th, 2024, a Spain-based bank revealed a data breach involving its third-party vendor, exposing data of current and former employees as well as customer details from Chile, Spain, and Uruguay. This incident highlighted a significant flaw in the bank’s access management system, even though regular operations were unaffected.
Similarly, a prominent automobile company determined in February of this year that its employees’ personal data, including social security numbers, was compromised due to a breach. The breach likely involved compromising a former employee’s credentials, which allowed for unauthorized access to the company network.
Simply put, failing to assess and grant the right level of access permissions to employees or third-party vendors systematically creates a gaping hole in an organization’s data security strategy. That’s why deploying a solution that can automate access review and certification campaigns for employees of your organization helps plug in those security gaps.
Why do you need an access governance tool?
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Escalating cyberthreats
Access governance helps minimize the attack surface by ensuring only authorized individuals have access to specific data and systems.
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Evolving regulatory landscape
As data privacy regulations are becoming stricter, access governance helps organizations track user access and demonstrate compliance with existing and emerging data privacy mandates.
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Remote workforces and cloud adoption
The rise of remote work and cloud-based applications creates a more dynamic and dispersed access environment. Access governance provides centralized control over access permissions, ensuring security regardless of user locations.
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Mitigating credential theft
Disgruntled employees or those with malicious intent can pose a significant security risk. Access governance helps mitigate this risk by monitoring access activity, identifying suspicious behavior, and enforcing the principle of least privilege (granting only the minimum access needed for a user’s role).
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Improved efficiency and cost savings
Manually performing access management is time-consuming and error-prone. Access governance tools automate tasks like provisioning and deprovisioning access, streamlining IT workflows and reducing administrative overhead. This translates to cost savings for organizations.
ADManager Plus for access governance
ADManager Plus, a premier IGA solution, provides automated access certification campaigns to continuously monitor user and group entitlements within an organization. These campaigns are scheduled to run automatically, enabling admins, managers, or resource owners to review and assess users’ privileges in Active Directory—such as group and NTFS folder permissions—as well as Microsoft 365 groups, roles, and application permissions. Based on the review outcomes, user and group access to resources can be retained or revoked, ensuring robust and efficient access management. Create an access certification campaign today with ADManager Plus! Download the free trial today with no strings attached.
