IAM vs PAM: Key Differences

IAM and PAM are two distinct but complementary security solutions that help organizations manage access to their digital assets. Understanding the key differences between these two solutions is essential to selecting the strategy that best suits an organization’s needs.

IAM is an umbrella term that covers all the policies, processes, and technologies used to manage user identities and their access to an organization’s systems, applications, and data.

PAM is a subset of IAM that focuses on managing and securing privileged accounts that have access to sensitive data and critical systems.

The main difference between the two solutions is who they are for.

IAM is primarily concerned with managing access to systems and data for all users and members.

PAM is specifically concerned with employees who require more privileged access – employees such as IT, high-level executives, and finance and HR teams. PAM solutions typically provide granular control over privileged accounts which are commonly targeted in spear phishing attempts.

That’s not to say that there is never some overlap in their uses. For example, when a regular user requires temporary elevated access to sensitive data or systems, PAM systems come into play.

IAM Benefits and Best Practices

IAM solutions have become an essential tool over the years. Organizations of all sizes and complexities should be implementing IAM at some level to manage and secure their digital assets effectively.

In this section, we’ll explore the benefits of IAM and best practices for implementing an effective IAM strategy.

Benefits of IAM

Improved security: IAM solutions provide a robust security framework that aids organizations in mitigating the risk of data breaches and cyber-attacks. This is achieved by controlling access to the organization’s system and information – something that’s increasingly important as more employees access an organization’s system from the edge of the network i.e. employees using mobile devices and personal networks whilst working from home.

Enhanced productivity: IAM solutions can automate previously cumbersome tasks like provisioning and deprovisioning users and managing user access to different systems and applications. This allows IT teams to focus on more pressing tasks.

Compliance: IAM solutions help organizations comply with various regulatory requirements. Compliance with regulations such as HIPAA, and GDPR is made easier when only authorized users can access sensitive data.

Best Practices for Implementing IAM Solutions

Define clear objectives: Define your organization’s objectives and priorities for IAM implementation. Objectives include enhancing security, improving productivity, and reducing costs.

Develop a comprehensive IAM strategy: Develop an IAM strategy that’s in line with objectives your organization has defined as critical. This is achieved by considering the organization’s priorities and taking into account existing infrastructure, systems, and applications.

Choose the right IAM solution: Choose an IAM solution that aligns with your organization’s needs, budget, and goals. When choosing the right IAM solution for your organization it’s important to consider factors such as scalability, ease of use, and vendor support.

If you need help selecting the right IAM solution for your organization, arrange a consultation with our team today.

We’re a trusted implementation partner for leading IAM solutions providers and can guide you in the direction that’s right for your organization.

PAM Benefits and Best Practices

Privileged Access Management (PAM) provides several benefits to an organization – helping them to manage, control and monitor privileged access effectively.

Let’s take a look at the benefits and best practices of PAM.

Benefits of PAM

Improved security: PAM helps to mitigate the risk of privileged account misuse and reduces the attack surface of an organization. It helps to prevent unauthorized access to critical assets and sensitive data.

Compliance: PAM helps organizations comply with regulatory requirements such as HIPAA and GDPR.

Operational efficiency: PAM helps streamline the privileged access management process and reduce the workload of IT teams. PAM solutions enable them to manage access requests, approvals, and revocations more efficiently, with proper procedures and often automations in place to support the processes.

Best Practices for Implementing PAM

Discover and catalog all privileged accounts: Perform a thorough audit to discover all the privileged accounts throughout the organization. This can be used to create an inventory of all the accounts and assign owners for each account.

Enforce strong password policies: Implement strong password policies for privileged accounts, including password complexity requirements, rotation policies, and multi-factor authentication.

IAM vs PAM: FAQs

The Need for Edge Cybersecurity

The proliferation of connected devices, the rise in edge computing, and the cultural shift to remote work have all contributed to the increased need for edge cybersecurity.

Edge devices, such as sensors, smart cameras, and other IoT devices, are often deployed in remote locations, making them vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

Edge computing allows for real-time data processing and analysis, but it also means that more sensitive data is being stored and processed at the edge of an organization’s network that’s potentially less protected.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a significant shift to remote working – sped up significantly by the pandemic.

This means that more employees are accessing company networks and data from their personal devices and outside of the traditional office environment. This introduces a new security challenge and makes it more difficult to maintain consistent security controls across the various networks and devices being utilized.

With a large adoption of cloud services and the use of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, more and more traffic is being sent directly to the internet from the edge of the network. This means that a lot of data is bypassing traditional security controls, increasing the risk of cyber attacks.

Given the changes in how we do business over the years, the need for edge cybersecurity has never been more critical. Having robust security measures in place to protect your edge devices, data, and networks has never been so important.

Key Considerations and Best Practices for Edge Cybersecurity

Implementing an effective edge cybersecurity program requires a comprehensive approach that takes into account the unique challenges of securing edge devices and networks.

Here are 7 key considerations and best practices to keep in mind when improving your edge cybersecurity.

1. Risk Assessment

The first and most important thing to consider when implementing any form of security policy is to carry out a thorough risk assessment.

Risk assessments are used to identify the potential risks and vulnerabilities at the edge network. This includes identifying the types of data being processed and stored at the edge, the types of devices being used, and the potential entry points for cybercriminals.

2. Device Security

Edge cybersecurity revolves heavily around devices at the edge of the network transmitting valuable company information. Meaning it’s imperative that all devices are secure. This can be achieved by implementing strong authentication mechanisms, secure firmware updates, and continuous monitoring of device activity.

It is also important to limit access to devices and ensure that only authorized personnel have the ability to configure or update them.

Zero trust is used by companies to improve their edge device security. It is a policy that revolves around the principle to:

“Never trust, always verify – every request from every user, in or outside the organization must be authenticated, authorized, and encrypted in real-time”

Implementing Zero Trust alongside your edge cybersecurity efforts means that all users are required to authenticate their identity before access to the organization’s system is granted – regardless of the device they’re using or network they are on.

3. Network Security

Ensuring that the network being used to access company information is secure is a critical consideration when focusing on edge cybersecurity.

What exactly do we mean by edge network?

Well, whenever an employee accesses any form of company information – whether it be company emails, company cloud storage, or remotely accesses the network from outside the office – the network that they use to do this is the edge network.

Protecting the edge network can be achieved by implementing firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and secure connectivity protocols such as VPNs. This helps prevent unauthorized access to the network and protects against potential cyber-attacks.

4. Data Security

Protection of sensitive data is nothing new in the world of cybersecurity and definitely not specific to edge cybersecurity. However, it definitely shouldn’t be overlooked when looking to improve your edge security efforts.

Protecting sensitive data can be achieved by implementing strong encryption mechanisms, access controls, and data loss prevention measures. It is important to ensure that data is only accessed and processed by authorized personnel and that data is not stored or transmitted in an unsecured manner.

5. Cloud Security

As mentioned earlier, the adoption of cloud services and SaaS applications over the years has become increasingly popular. It’s essential to consider these elements when looking to improve your edge security.

Cloud activity should be monitored and measures put in place to prevent unauthorized access to cloud services.

6. Employee Education

Again, similar to data security, employee education is critical for any security measures and all business divisions.

For edge security in particular, employees need to be educated on the importance of edge cybersecurity with supplemented training on best practices for securing edge devices and networks.

By successfully educating employees, they will be aware of the risks of using personal devices for work-related activities and the best way to secure remote access when outside of the office.

For more on employee training, check out our article on employee cybersecurity training.

7. Regular Monitoring

When implementing edge cybersecurity, it’s no one-time job. It’s important to ensure that the network is regularly monitored for any suspicious activity or breaches.

This can be achieved through the use of security information and event management (SIEM) systems that collect and analyze network logs and events. You could also implement intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) that can identify and block malicious traffic in real time.

Over the years, artificial intelligence has of course made its way into cybersecurity. Machine learning models have the capability of modeling what is considered normal behavior, allowing for any suspicious, irregular activity on the network to be detected, assigned a threat level, and flagged to IT teams in real time. For more information, check out our article on artificial intelligence in cybersecurity.

Along with monitoring network activity, it’s important to ensure all security policies and procedures are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that they remain effective in mitigating current and emerging threats.

This includes regular testing and assessing the security of the network through penetration testing and vulnerability assessments. This can be achieved by making use of a specialized red team of ethical hackers that attempt to breach your network (with permission) with the objective of locating any potential weaknesses that could leave you vulnerable to cyber attacks.

By taking a comprehensive approach to edge cybersecurity and implementing these key considerations and best practices, you can better protect your edge devices, data, and network from cyber threats.

88% of companies now consider cybersecurity a business risk rather than an IT problem. From that, it’s clear that the rising number of cyber-attacks globally cannot be ignored by executives.

It is no longer enough to implement basic security measures. Organizations must take a proactive approach to protect their digital assets from cyber threats. This is where the NIST Cybersecurity Framework comes in to provide a structured and flexible approach to managing cybersecurity risks.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a set of guidelines developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to help organizations manage and reduce cybersecurity risks as part of their wider goals to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness.

1. Identify

The first component is all about identifying and understanding the assets, data, and systems that need to be protected, as well as the potential threats and vulnerabilities they face.

This is achieved by conducting risk assessments, taking inventory of hardware and software assets, and defining data classifications.

Each core function also contains subcategories. For example, within identity the focus areas are:

• Asset management
• Business environment
• Governance
• Risk assessment
• Risk management strategy
• Supply chain risk management

2. Protect

The second component focuses on implementing safeguards and controls to protect against any potential cyber threats that were identified in the first core function.

This involves developing and implementing security policies like zero trust, conducting employee training, and implementing security measures such as identity and access controls, encryption, multi-factor authentication, and other security technologies.

The focus areas here are:

• Identity and access control
• Awareness and training
• Data security
• Information protection processes and procedures
• Maintenance
• Protective technology

3. Detect

The third component involves detecting cybersecurity events and incidents as quickly as possible.

IBM reported that the average time to identify a breach in 2021 was 212 days. Anything to improve this number could have a significant impact on reducing the financial and reputation losses caused by cybersecurity breaches.

This requires monitoring and detection systems, the adoption of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity, conducting vulnerability assessments, and red-team penetration testing.

Red-team in cybersecurity refers to a team of ethical hackers that attempt to exploit an organization’s weaknesses to raise awareness of any areas that may be susceptible to future breaches.

The focus areas here are:

• Anomalies and events
• Security continuous monitoring
• Detection processes

4. Respond

The fourth component involves responding to any cybersecurity incidents and data breaches in a timely, effective, and cost-efficient manner.

The average cost of a data breach in 2021 was $4.24 million. So, responding to cybersecurity incidents as quickly and as effectively as possible could reduce this number significantly.

This involves establishing a clear and comprehensive incident response plan, conducting regular drills and exercises, and providing appropriate guidance and support to affected stakeholders.

The focus areas here are:

• Response planning
• Communications
• Analysis
• Mitigation
• improvements

5. Recover

The final component is all about the worst-case scenario. How do you recover from a cybersecurity incident and restore normal operations?

This includes developing and implementing business continuity and disaster recovery plans, conducting post-incident reviews, and continuously improving the organization’s cybersecurity posture.

The focus areas here are:

• Recovery planning
• Improvements
• Communications

Each of these components is designed to work cohesively together with the ultimate goal of providing a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity risk management.

By implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, organizations can better:

• Identify and understand their cybersecurity risks
• Protect against potential cyber threats
• Detect incidents in a timely manner
• Respond more effectively to incidents in the event they do occur
• Recover from cyber attacks at a quicker rate

Implementation Tiers

Once you have mapped out your current cybersecurity practices and determined where improvements can be made, you can move on to implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework’s Implementation Tiers.

The tiers represent a progression from basic cybersecurity practices to more advanced and adaptive practices.

There are four implementation tiers, each with its own set of characteristics that you can use to assess where your organization currently stands.

Tier 1: Partial

Organizations that have an ad-hoc approach to cybersecurity with an inconsistent process for managing risks, fall into this tier.

Often they’ll have limited awareness of their cybersecurity risks, and their approach to cybersecurity is reactive as opposed to proactive.

Tier 2: Risk-Informed

Organizations that have begun to develop a risk management process for their cybersecurity practices fall into this tier.

They generally have a better understanding of their cybersecurity risks and have implemented some cybersecurity practices.

However, they may still be missing a formalized cybersecurity risk management process, and their cybersecurity practices may not be fully integrated into their overall organizational processes.

Tier 3: Repeatable

Organizations that have a formalized cybersecurity risk management process that is integrated into their overall organizational processes, fall into this tier.

These organizations have implemented a range of cybersecurity practices and are working towards a proactive approach to their cybersecurity efforts.

Generally, they have a good understanding of their cybersecurity risks and are continuously monitoring and improving their cybersecurity practices.

Tier 4: Adaptive

Organizations that have an advanced and proactive approach to cybersecurity, fall into this tier.

Organizations in this tier are constantly monitoring their cybersecurity risks and adapting their cybersecurity practices to address new and emerging threats.

They have a strong cybersecurity risk management process that is fully integrated into their overall organizational processes. Overall, the implementation tiers are used as a roadmap to improve an organization’s cybersecurity practices and move towards a more proactive and adaptive approach to cybersecurity.

Profiles

Profiles are a key component of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

They’re used to identify opportunities for improving an organization’s cybersecurity by comparing the “current” profile against a “target” profile to establish the existing and desired state of their cybersecurity program.

The NIST framework is voluntary so there is no right or wrong way to select which of the five core functions and subcategories to focus on. Organizations can map out your cybersecurity requirements, mission objectives, and operating methodologies that act as your target-state profile.

Then map out the organization’s current practices against the subcategories of the Framework Core functions. This is what’s referred to as the current-state profile.

By comparing the current cybersecurity activities to the objectives and requirements outlined in the target profile, an organization can identify gaps and determine a roadmap that prioritizes efforts and improvements accordingly.

RediMinds are a certified security implementation partner to both Okta and Transmit Security who offer cloud-based IAM and CIAM solutions.

Get in touch to speak to one of our experts today.

Key Features of IAM to Keep In Mind

When looking to implement an IAM system, or assessing how effective your current IAM systems are, here are some key features to keep in mind:

Authentication: The process of verifying a user’s identity, whether it be passwordless via biometrics, a physical token like a swipe card, or a traditional username and password.

Authorization: The process of granting or denying access to resources based on a user’s role and predefined permissions.

User provisioning: The process of creating, updating, and deleting user accounts.

Audit and reporting: The ability to monitor user activity and generate automated reports on user access and activity – this can be taken one step further with modern IAM systems that operate with artificial intelligence. Machine learning models are trained to detect any abnormal behavior on the system, determine a threat level, and report any threats in real-time.

How Exactly Does IAM Improve Security?

Now there’s no denying the benefits a successful IAM system can bring to a company. Let’s go over the three main areas that improve an organization’s security:

Controlling access to resources: The whole concept of IAM is to ensure that only users with authorized access can access certain company resources. This by itself is what makes IAM so beneficial – by reducing the risk of unauthorized access that can lead to security breaches.

Enforcing policies and standards: IAM enables organizations to enforce company-wide policies and standards for user access, password strength, employee training, and other security-related details.

Automating processes: By enabling automation of mundane tasks previously carried out by IT professionals gives them extra time to focus on more pressing matters. Freeing up time to strengthen any weaknesses in the organization’s cybersecurity systems, conducting audits, and fraud testing the systems to identify areas for improvement.

What is CIAM?

Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) is a specialized subset of IAM that focuses on managing the identities and access of customers or external users of your product or service.

CIAM solutions are designed with user experience top of mind, specifically for customer-facing applications, meaning CIAM solutions have a different set of criteria and priorities when compared to IAM solutions that are designed for employees.

Functionality and Benefits of CIAM

Similar to a successful IAM solution, the implementation of a successful CIAM solution has incredible benefits and functionalities that can be brought to your business. Some of which are:

Registration and Profile Management

One key functionality of CIAM is to enable users to create and manage their own profiles. This includes the ability to update personal information, access controls, and security preferences.

Social Identity Integration

One of the main objectives of any CIAM solution is to improve the user experience by making registration, login, and account management as seamless as possible.

Some CIAM solutions integrate with social media platforms, allowing customers to use their social media credentials to log in and access resources.

Personalization and Customization

CIAM solutions have the option to provide personalized experiences for customers, based on their preferences, history, and other factors.

Multi-Factor Authentication

CIAM solutions provide additional layers of security, such as multi-factor authentication and AI-powered adaptive authentication that use contextual behavioral analytics and administratively defined policies to decide what authentication is required under a specific set of circumstances.

Ultimately, protecting customer identities and data to the best of an organization’s ability.

Compliance and Regulatory Requirements

CIAM solutions help organizations comply with data protection regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA. These regulations determine how an organization collects, stores, and shares personal data.

A well-thought-out CIAM solution ensures compliance by providing features such as data subject access requests and consent management.

How Can CIAM Improve Customer Experience?

Given that the main objective of a successful CIAM solution is to improve the user and customer experience as much as possible, here are 3 areas of a CIAM solution that achieve this:

Providing a seamless login experience: CIAM solutions have the option for single sign-on. A feature being utilized very effectively by Google – it allows a user to sign into one application and automatically be signed into a suite of other applications. For example, when a user signs into Gmail, they’re automatically signed into Youtube, Google Drive, and any other G-suite application.

Authentication Options: CIAM solutions allow for a variety of multifactor authentication options, giving users the freedom to decide what authentication methods are most convenient for them.

Streamlining the registration process: CIAM solutions simplify the registration process, allowing customers to quickly and easily create their profiles and access resources. Given that the conversion rate of a website in 2022 was 3.65%, any improvements that can be made to the registration process have the possibility of improving this number greatly.

Overall, CIAM is a crucial technology for organizations that have customer-facing applications and services. By providing a secure and seamless user experience, CIAM solutions can help organizations build customer loyalty, increase engagement, and improve their bottom line.

CIAM vs IAM: Key Differences

If you’re looking to improve your CIAM or IAM solutions or maybe you want more information on which would be the best fit for your organization speak to one of our experts today! 

In today’s digital landscape, businesses of all sizes and industries are increasingly relying on digital channels to interact with customers. 

As a result, managing customer identities and access has become a critical business requirement. This is where Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) comes in.

What is CIAM?

CIAM is a subset of identity and access management (IAM) that focuses on managing the digital identities and access controls of customers as opposed to employees.

CIAM solutions provide a centralized platform for organizations to manage their customer’s identities, preferences, and consent across various digital touchpoints like websites, mobile apps, and social platforms.

The CIAM solution of an organization is what allows customers to safely sign up and log into online applications and services and manage their accounts, profiles, and security settings.

The main objective of a CIAM solution is to deliver a great customer experience while protecting customer data.

Key Elements of CIAM

Self-Service Registration and Account Management

The most important element of any CIAM solution is the ability for a user to sign up for your service by themselves. Making this process streamlined and intuitive for potential customers is critical. 

Considering that the average conversion rate of a website in 2022 was 3.65%, avoiding any inconveniences during registration that may deter visitors from completing the sign-up process need to be considered and avoided at all costs.

Personalization

CIAM solutions enable organizations to offer personalized experiences to customers based on their preferences and behaviors.

This also allows users to manage their accounts themselves to update information like their email, home addresses, security, and consent preferences. 

Any CIAM solution also has to allow users to reset passwords and go through authentication protocols without involving an IT professional.

Centralized Customer Profiles

Having customer profiles that are centralized across applications and devices is a key element of CIAM.

This allows users to update their details in one interface and those details be updated on all interfaces, removing any data silos and preventing frustration or duplicate work for the customer.

Scalability

Particularly when operating within a large enterprise, cybersecurity professionals have to be sure that the system is scalable and capable of handling potentially millions of users. 

Take OpenAI for example – upon the release of ChatGPT, it amassed over 1,000,000 users in only 1 week.

Single Sign-On

Single sign-on (SSO) is a feature of CIAM being utilized very effectively by Google. It allows a user to sign into one application and automatically be signed into a suite of other applications.

For example, when a user signs into Gmail, they’re automatically signed into Youtube, Google Drive, and any other G-suite application. 

Consent Management

In the digital-first, always-on society we live in, people want to be in control of their privacy preferences when they’re online. 

CIAM solutions enable customers to manage their data privacy preferences and give explicit consent to data sharing and usage – a must for any organization handling customer data.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

MFA is a login procedure, often backed by artificial intelligence, that adds an additional layer of security in an attempt to prevent fraudulent logins. This is achieved by requiring a user to use more than one authentication method to gain access to a system.

This allows for a better means of accessing software, applications, and systems that’s much safer than the traditional username and password method that’s easy for hackers to exploit.

MFA is increasingly becoming regarded as a basic security requirement with more and more data privacy laws starting to demand it. 

Modern CIAM supports AI-powered adaptive authentication which uses contextual behavioral analytics and administratively defined policies to decide what authentication is required under a specific set of circumstances.

Identity Verification and Fraud Prevention

To protect against fraudulent activities such as account takeover, fake account creation, and identity theft, robust identity verification and fraud prevention features are central to any comprehensive CIAM strategy.

With fraud at its highest level in the last 20 years – according to PwC’s 2022 report in which they stated 51% of organizations had experienced fraud in the last two years – the focus on fraud prevention has to be higher than ever to protect customers and companies. 

The Importance of Getting Your CIAM Right

Adherence to Privacy Laws 

Failing to meet data laws such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA can be costly for an organization in terms of both finances and reputation. 

Regulation authorities determine how an organization collects, stores, and shares personal data. In order to meet these legal requirements, your CIAM needs to be top of mind. 

Acquire and Retain Customers

A lot of time, energy, money, and resources go into attracting new customers to a business. 

One of the first interactions a user has with your business is the registration process which makes it a critical part of the customer acquisition journey – getting this process wrong isn’t an option for businesses in such a competitive landscape. 

Likewise, if your system isn’t user-friendly causing inconvenience to customers on a daily basis – they’ll likely look elsewhere, increasing churn and reducing the lifetime value of each customer to direct hit your bottom line.

Improve User Experience

In a world where convenience is so important for consumers – getting your user experience right has never been more important. 

There are no second chances when it comes to pleasing customers.

Hubspot reported that 88% of customers are less likely to return to a site after a poor user experience.

So how exactly does CIAM improve the user experience?

Registration

Making the registration process as seamless as possible avoids deterring potential customers right at the point of joining.

By enabling convenient registration options like social registration, and minimizing the information a customer requires when joining, the process can be as seamless as possible. 

Authentication

CIAM solutions allow for a variety of multifactor authentication options, giving users the freedom to decide what authentication methods are most convenient for them.

Authorization

Solutions continuously authorize access using adaptive authentication. Variables such as device, location, behavior, and more are used to determine the risk of the current session throughout that session. 

Varied methods of authorization can be deployed based on the level of risk.

For example, during low-risk conditions users may leave and return without signing in again. Opposingly, a user that is acting suspiciously may be required to re-authenticate – increasing the security of the user’s account.

Self-Service

Tasks such as profile preference management, contact preferences, password reset, help requests, and security preferences should all be modifiable by the user manually.

This not only provides the user with a more seamless experience but relieves pressure on support teams. 

Multichannel Support

Implementing an effective CIAM system ensures that users have fluidity between devices.

CIAM allows for flexibility on entry points across all devices, reducing the inconvenience to all users which ultimately increases the retention rates of customers.

Users expect their experience to be as fluid as the Apple ecosystem, in which they can access anything on any of their devices, from anywhere, anytime via their iCloud account.

This is the fluidity that users now expect in their experience with any company – and a comprehensive CIAM solution helps achieve this.

How is CIAM Different From IAM?

Most companies have some form of employee identity and access management, whether it’s swipe cards to access physical locations, usernames and passwords to access systems, or more complex passwordless authentication systems.

On the face of it, IAM and CIAM may seem the same. However, they actually have significant differences in terms of functionality.

Check out our article on CIAM vs IAM for a full breakdown

Employee vs Customers

This one might not be too much of a surprise but one of the main differences is that CIAM is focused on customer access to digital assets compared to IAM being primarily focused on employees.

User Experience

IAM is designed for employees who are familiar with a system meaning that the user’s experience isn’t usually top of mind when designing it.

CIAM however, is designed for non-technical users so being as user-friendly as possible is crucial.

Data Privacy

A great majority of measures that companies take to protect customer data with their CIAM strategy are driven by regulatory compliance requirements and restrictions.

Their IAM strategy is of course influenced by these regulations but is also driven by the need to protect intellectual property and combat other cybersecurity threats.

Performance and Scalability

For most enterprises, the rate of new customer onboarding is often much higher than the rate of new employee onboarding.

Arguably, this means the amount of data collected by a CIAM solution is exponentially greater than the amount of data collected by an IAM solution – millions of customers versus hundreds or thousands of employees.

Whether the system can handle that huge amount of data is crucial when choosing or designing your CIAM strategy.

Choosing the Right CIAM Solution

As explained above, getting your CIAM solution right is critical to the security and loyalty of your customers!

Getting it wrong could result in reduced conversion rates of prospects, existing customers seeking alternative solutions, hefty fines from regulation authorities, or your CIAM solution simply not being able to handle the volume of data.

Here are some factors to consider when choosing a CIAM solution:

Security: Security needs to be top of mind for a CIAM solution, without it you could land yourself in legal, financial, and reputation trouble. Features such as multi-factor authentication, encryption, and compliance with relevant data privacy regulations are essential.

User experience: Getting this wrong will simply mean fewer customers and reduced satisfaction. Ensuring that your CIAM solution is intuitive and user-friendly across multiple digital channels is non-negotiable.

Scalability: Your CIAM solution must meet demand and scale with your business as it grows. Look for a solution that can handle a high volume of users and is flexible enough to adapt to changing business needs.

Integration: Your CIAM solution has to be able to integrate seamlessly with your existing systems. Systems to consider are your CRM, marketing automation, and other backend systems.

Popular CIAM Vendors

There are several popular CIAM vendors in the market, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

RediMinds recommends choosing one of the leading solutions:

Okta: A cloud-based identity management solution that offers network security solutions and provides a unified security infrastructure that allows for a seamless experience for users.

Transmit Security: Provide uncompromising security, fraud prevention, and customer experience with modular, orchestrated identity services.

RediMinds are a certified security implementation partner for both Okta and Transmit Security.

So, if you’re looking to improve your CIAM solutions then speak to one of our experts today.

When it comes to cybersecurity models, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Designing a security system from scratch just isn’t an option for most enterprise companies – that’s why it’s common practice to pick a publicly available framework.

One of the most popular of which is the Zero Trust cybersecurity framework, estimated to reach a market value of 59.43 billion by 2023.

(source: Adroit Market Research)

This article will cover:

• What it is
• Why it’s important
• Threats to traditional security
• Why your business should be implementing Zero Trust
• Challenges faced with Zero Trust
• Implementing Zero Trust

What is the Zero Trust framework?

The Zero Trust security model has been around for over 10 years. But, it wasn’t until the past few years that it became clear how to implement it efficiently and cost-effectively, thus companies have only really started adopting it more recently.

The principles of zero trust are simple:

“Never trust, always verify – every request from every user, in or outside the organization must be authenticated, authorized, and encrypted in real-time”

Adopting Zero trust as an organization changes the concept of ‘perimeter’ from being location-based to identity and access-based – a concept that’s integral in today’s age of remote working, cloud computing, and hybrid storage systems.

That brings us to…

Why Is Zero Trust So Important in Today’s Digital Landscape?

The last few years have seen an exponential change in the digital landscape and thus, a significant change in how companies operate. Specifically, the shift to remote and hybrid remote working.

Such a shift has brought about increased exposure to cyber threats that were previously not even a consideration.

With more and more employees working outside of the office, users are accessing potentially critical company information and data on unsecured networks.

This, coupled with the fact that cybercriminals are becoming more and more sophisticated, forever finding new and improved ways to exploit weaknesses in an organization’s system, leaves organizations more vulnerable than ever to cyber threats.

Zero trust is an excellent way to combat these issues – by simplifying security efforts and effectively verifying user identities both before and during every user’s session. This allows for suspicious behavior to be picked up in real time.

So, it’s no surprise that Hartner captures a 60% YoY growth rate in companies adopting Zero trust.

Threats to Traditional Network Security

Cyber Attacks Becoming More Sophisticated

As technology advances, so do cybercriminal tactics. Traditional security methods like firewalls and antivirus software are no longer enough to protect you against new and more advanced threats.

In this new era of the digital landscape in which traditional security methods aren’t a match for malware, phishing, and ransomware attacks that cybercriminals are deploying today.

Increased Number of Remote Employees

With more and more employees accessing company networks from outside the office, this has created a larger attack surface for cybercriminals to target.

Many remote employees and devices may not have the same level of security as those within the office – this is what’s referred to as edge cybersecurity. 

While using personal devices for work purposes can increase the risk of data breaches as they may not be as secure as company-issued devices.

An alternative solution to Zero Trust is to use a VPN. On the face of it, they work relatively well by funneling access through a private connection when accessing an unsecured connection, essentially encrypting the user’s online activity.

However, VPNs have a significant drawback versus zero trust. Because VPNs work on a policy of implicit trust for network access, in the event that just one user is compromised, the intruder gains access to the entire system.

This kind of access in the wrong hands could have catastrophic results.

Additionally, VPNs aren’t ideal for scalability on complex networks and offer no risk detection features.

Why Your Business Should Be Implementing Zero Trust

Improved Inventory of Infrastructure

For Zero Trust to work effectively, it requires an organization to have an accurate inventory of infrastructure. This means a full log of users, devices, programs, and services.

This is what allows IT teams to allocate who has access to which parts of the network. Simply put – holes in the inventory infrastructure equals holes in the organization’s cybersecurity.

Improved Data Protection

Due to the fundamental principles of zero trust, users attempting to access critical company data are subject to the identity and validation process before they are granted access.

This allows an organization to define who can be granted access and when.

Additionally, once a user gains access they are continually monitored and re-authorized. This allows for any abnormal behavior to be flagged in real-time.

The Zero Trust framework also takes advantage of micro-segmentation which involves dividing the network into smaller, more secure segments. This approach helps to reduce the attack surface of the network and minimize the impact of a successful attack.

In the event of a breach, the attacker will be limited to a smaller portion of the network, reducing the overall risk to the organization.

Increased Network Visibility

The Zero Trust framework provides a comprehensive view of all network activity.

Because all devices and users accessing the network are verified and authenticated, this generates an abundant amount of information in regard to network activity.

The resulting data logs contain who and what accessed the network, what applications and software they accessed, and for how long – visibility that helps an organization detect and respond to security threats more effectively and quickly.

The powers of machine learning can be harnessed here to augment this process and automatically detect patterns of normal behavior and more importantly, when out-of-the-ordinary activities are taking place, in real-time.

Check out our article for more on artificial intelligence in cybersecurity.

Improved Compliance With Industry Regulations

Many regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the United States, require you to implement robust security measures to protect sensitive data.

The Zero Trust framework provides ways to implement the requirements in a structured and consistent manner.

For example, the principle of authenticating and verifying all devices and users accessing a network complies with the regulation to secure access control.

Adopting the Zero Trust framework within your organization means that you can take advantage of advanced security tools like encryption and data loss prevention (DLP) technologies – more tools that help your organization protect sensitive data and comply with regulatory requirements.

Streamline Security Policy Creation

Traditional security measures often operate independently from one another.

This leaves parts of your organization’s infrastructure vulnerable and susceptible to cyber-attacks – and if there’s one thing cyber criminals are good at, it’s exploiting a weakness in a system.

Zero Trust helps with this as it allows for one global policy that can be created and implemented throughout the whole infrastructure.

Flexibility When Changing Technologies

As an enterprise expands and evolves, so do the business processes and technologies used – technologies like apps, data, and services.

As the Zero Trust framework isn’t tied to any one specific technology or system, when a change in technology is required, the Zero Trust security framework can be easily adapted to the new environment. The policies and controls that are put in place for securing access to resources remain consistent, regardless of the technology being used.

For example, if an enterprise decided to switch from using a traditional on-premise infrastructure to a cloud-based infrastructure, the Zero Trust framework can be applied to the new environment, allowing for a seamless and secure transition.

Challenges of Zero Trust Implementation

Integration With Existing Systems

The barrier to entry when adopting the Zero Trust security framework is largely dependent on the current infrastructure of the organization.

If your organization requires a lot of new technologies and updates for successful implementation, this of course takes time and money.

This can cause problems for organizations as they need to ensure that the new system integrates seamlessly with their existing network, applications, and security tools.

Addressing Cultural Resistance to Change

As a whole, people don’t like change. This means that the idea of adopting a new security model may result in pushback from employees.

This is why it’s critical to effectively communicate the benefits that the new security model will bring to the organization. Check out our article on employee cybersecurity training for our recommended training best practices.

Addressing Budget Constraints

As mentioned above, depending on the current infrastructure of the organization, implementing the Zero Trust framework seamlessly may require investment in new technology and tools, as well as hiring new staff, subject matter experts, or retraining existing employees.

Sometimes it can be difficult to secure key stakeholder buy-in for company improvements that don’t directly impact the bottom line of the business.

This is why the importance of money saved with increased security needs to be outlined, highlighting the risk of not getting your cybersecurity right.

This shouldn’t be too hard considering that IBM reported that the average cost of a data breach in the United States is $9.44 million.

Implementing Zero Trust

Often when people look at the Zero Trust framework, they instantly think of applying it to all applications and data sets immediately – which is a momentous task for large enterprises.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Zero Trust framework can be implemented step-by-step in a gradual process.

By starting with specific applications or data sets or even types of users that the organization deems to be vulnerable assets to the business. For example, remote workers using their home or public networks.

Assessing Current Security Framework

The first step in implementing the Zero Trust framework is to take a look at the existing infrastructure.

This includes identifying any vulnerabilities, assessing the existing security systems, and understanding the current threat landscape.

This information can be used to determine what changes need to be made to the current security practices and what tools and technologies are required to effectively implement Zero Trust.

Defining the Zero Trust architecture

With a thorough assessment of current security measures and risks, you can define your Zero Trust architecture.

This involves creating a roadmap that outlines the steps required to implement Zero Trust, as well as defining the policies, processes, and technologies that will be updated.

Selecting the Right Tools and Technologies

A key component of the Zero Trust model is the use of the right technologies that are best suited to your organization.

Whether you’re going to implement multi-factor authentication, passwordless authentication, encryption, security information, and event management (SIEM) systems, it’s important to take into consideration factors like cost, ease of integration, and scalability.

If your identity and access management solution isn’t fully serving your organization, get in touch with one of our experts today to discuss your best way forward to better secure your systems.