If you’re reading this, a major part of your job is making the case for security-related issues you know are urgent.
You may be among the 97% of CISOs being asked to present to their boards — briefing them on new attack methods and recommending protective solutions. Or you might be a security admin relaying that same information to your CISO. Either way, you’re on point to convince them that:
- These threats require attention.
- Your plan merits support.
- The time for action is now.
Why now? IT security teams face pressure to act quickly when threats emerge and scrutiny rises. The consequences of delayed action loom large. For example, what if you don’t move quickly enough to find a vendor whose solution can protect against the latest threat? No doubt this is a valid concern — but it could also be how the average enterprise ended up amassing 75 security vendors.
The trouble is when security solutions are bolted together in haste, they typically cannot:
- Share data on potential threats and turn insights into action as a unified front.
- Correlate alerts across data to find the signal in the noise.
- Extend an effective control for securing one type of identity (IT admin) to another identity (everyday employee).
Your organization likely has a solution for securing privileged users’ identities. And you probably have tools to authenticate employees using applications. All good things! However, in a typical organization, these solutions are often siloed. So, if you happen to notice that a control from the privileged access management side (like session monitoring) could also be useful for securing identities of everyday workers — well, that’s a spot-on observation.
But without integration, your solutions can’t share controls. Let’s talk about how you can change that.
The Role of Intelligent Privilege Controls
Any identity can become privileged based on the sensitive resources they can access — and the actions they can take. Consider the example of a healthcare system, where a wide range of identities (human and non-human) requires protection, including:
- IT admin identities with high-risk access to critical healthcare infrastructure.
- Identities of everyday hospital employees, 65% of whom have access to sensitive data such as patient records and billing information.
- Identities of automated tools used by the hospital’s DevOps team to build out cloud operations as healthcare modernizes.
- Built-in identities on endpoints and servers that an attacker could use to steal patient data or install ransomware that could shut down hospital operations.
- Machine identities built into healthcare Internet of Things (IoT) devices used by medical staff and patients.
Healthcare is just one example. This phenomenon — in which identities of all types are gaining access to critical resources, infrastructure and environments — is happening across all industries and government sectors.
What we’re seeing is an evolution of privilege beyond the textbook definition. And why an integrated identity security approach is so essential.
In an identity security platform, the underlying solutions are designed to share data, benefit from each other’s respective controls and — similar to the people who are instrumental to making identity security work — collaborate with each other. With intelligent privilege controls at the center of that platform, you can enforce least privilege across all of your identities, infrastructures, applications, endpoints and environments.
Securing the Identity Ecosystem – Five Examples of Intelligent Privilege Controls
At this point, you might be thinking to yourself, “Okay I get the general premise here. But what kinds of controls are we talking about exactly, and what kinds of identities would I apply them to?”
Let’s visualize it. We created a helpful graphic you can refer to when building or refining your own identity security approach. It can also be useful when you’re making the case to your stakeholders — from your board to your team — on how to better secure your organization at a time when all types of identities are under attack.
As illustrated, intelligent privilege controls aren’t just for the IT admins of world. They can help you secure the entire ecosystem of identities driving your organization’s most important initiatives.
Finding a True Identity Security Platform: How to Vet Providers
So where can you find a platform in which the underlying controls can be applied to any identity with access to potential targets? Could it be as simple as consolidating providers? Not quite. The word “consolidation” doesn’t do justice to the challenge at hand. We’re talking about building something bigger that can take on a threat landscape in which:
- 63% of organizations have fallen victim to an identity-related attack.
- 52% of employees have access to sensitive corporate data.
- Machine identities outnumber their human counterparts 45:1.
Today’s threats require an identity security platform that’s integrated in every way — built to protect every identity (human and machine) and every resource they touch, across every one of your environments. The million-dollar question is: how can you find such a platform? We’ve got you covered on that front as well.
Check out our recently published eBook, “What to Look for in an Identity Security Platform.” It’s a quick read containing vendor-agnostic recommendations on the strategies, controls and technologies that comprise a true identity security platform. In the eBook, you’ll find insights on what questions to ask and how to evaluate providers’ offerings to make sure they can meet your organization’s needs.
Learning From Your Peers and Identity Security Experts: IMPACT 2023
Editor’s note: If you’re reading this, chances are you might also be craving an opportunity to hear from your peers on what it takes to secure identities in today’s threat landscape. We’re asking security pros from around the world to join us on May 22-24 at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center for IMPACT 2023, the premier identity security conference. Each year, thousands of security leaders, practitioners and industry experts gather – in person and virtually – to discuss all things related to identity security, including:
- Insights on today’s fast-evolving attack surface.
- Trends on how attackers are innovating.
- Strategies to help you protect the identities driving your organization’s key initiatives.
Might I add, this is also an excellent chance to network and have fun! So register for IMPACT and join us in Boston May 22-24.
Amy Blackshaw is vice president of product marketing at CyberArk.
