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Access Management: A Cornerstone of Cybersecurity

Currently, organizations are highly dependent on their technologies, but most importantly, on the data they process. This is where cybersecurity comes into the picture to guarantee the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of these critical business assets. Access management is a significant part of cybersecurity. Proper access management provides access on a need-to-know basis only to the users and systems that require it for their functions, thereby limiting the number of users and reducing the risks of exfiltration, theft, alteration, and accidental disruptions.

The Importance of Access Management 

One crucial aspect of cybersecurity that helps ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability is access management. Access management is a set of policies, procedures, and technologies designed to control access to information and systems. It encompasses authentication, authorization, and accountability. 

Taking into consideration Gartner’s definition of access management, four questions come to mind when working on access management: 

• Who or what has access to systems and data? 

• Who authorizes the access? 

• How long is the access needed? 

• Is it necessary for their daily activities? 

These questions initiate the process for access management within the organization. To answer them, the organization must know what their critical business assets and processes are, how they interact within the organization, and what access is needed for them. 

Once these questions are answered and the relevant data regarding the people, systems, and information has been collected, mapping it out is the next vital step to seeing the complete picture. 

Data Mapping: The Foundation of Effective Access Management 

Data mapping is a crucial step in understanding and organizing the information within an organization. It involves identifying and documenting data sources, flows, and dependencies to create a comprehensive map of how data moves through systems and processes.  

Best Practices for Assigning Access 

Once data mapping is complete, the next step is establishing a robust access management framework. A proper framework aligned with the business processes will allow the organization to manage access in a defined and standardized way. Providing complete visibility and control, and decreasing the risks tied to access management. Here are some best practices for assigning access to consider when developing a framework: 

• Principle of Least Privilege: Grant users the minimum level of access necessary to perform their job functions. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access and potential data breaches. 

• Role-Based Access Control: Assign permissions based on users’ roles within the organization. This ensures that users receive appropriate access levels based on their responsibilities. 

• Regular Access Reviews: Conduct periodic reviews of access permissions to ensure they align with users’ current roles and responsibilities. Revoke access that is no longer necessary to decrease the risks of data breaches or disruptions from users or systems that don’t need access. 

• Automated Provisioning and Deprovisioning: Utilize automated tools to manage user access rights, ensuring that new employees receive appropriate access promptly and that departing employees have their access revoked immediately. Automation decreases efforts from operators who need to manage access, significantly reduces the margin of error when revoking access from multiple assets, and can automatically revoke access after a specified period. 

Conclusion:  

Understanding and implementing robust access management policies can significantly enhance an organization’s security posture, ensuring that sensitive data remains protected and accessible only to those with proper authorization. By addressing these fundamental questions, performing data mapping, and establishing a comprehensive access management framework, organizations can mitigate risks and safeguard their valuable assets from potential threats.