According to an estimation, the cybersecurity market size in the Middle East is expected to grow at an estimated compound annual
growth rate of 14.2% (i.e., from USD 11.38 Billion in 2017 to USD 22.14
Billion by 2022). As per another report released by Forrester,
a market research firm, 80% of security attacks are caused due to data
theft or unauthorized access to privileged data. The situation is not
different in the Middle East as Arab countries are among those facing
the highest number of cyberattacks as per a finding by another American
research firm Cybersecurity Ventures.
Cyber adversaries mainly
gain access to your confidential or sensitive organizational data to
steal it and sell it in the black market for some big money or modify
your data to create a backdoor entry to your server and provide that
information to others. As the number of ways in which digital
information is used, shared, and accessed increases with the
advancements in digital information technology, it also opens up many
new doors to the cybercriminals to access your enterprise’s confidential
data. This is the area where Identity and Access Management (IAM)
solution providers play a vital role in defining strict guidelines and
standards for enterprises to monitor and access important data sets.
But
choosing the best Identity and Access Management solution provider can
be a daunting task. Hence, you need to know what information you need to
look for in the access management system to ensure it is top-notch and
suits your requirements. Below is a list of essential questions that you
may need to ask your potential access management solution provider
before choosing their service.
1. What Are The Different Authentication Methods Supported By Your Access Management Solution?
Enterprises
nowadays allow their employees to access data through various
authentication methods. People can either use a simple password or even
use a 2-factor authentication method or, to some extent, a multi-factor
authentication.
Hence, the access management solution provider must support all forms of authentication methods, such as:
• Tokens Authentication (Hardware or Software token devices)
•
Multi-factor authentication (e.g., What you inherent-Biometrics, What
you know-Passwords or Passphrases, What you possess-Tokens)
•
Out-of-Band Authentication or OOB (e.g., using smartphone devices to
authenticate a transaction that is originated on a laptop device)
They can easily provide your security team to set user-based authentication requirements, including:
• Employee, customer, contractor or user role in accessing the data
• Access information, including the data location, time of access, access method, and device used for access, etc.
• The applications, system and the network that is accessed
• Level of sensitivity or confidentiality of the data that is accessed
2. How Does The Solution Implement Paswordless Authentication, Viz? Single Sign-On (SSO)?
Single
sign-on authentication is regarded as one of the best methods of
authentication as it comes with a lot of advantages. Once you enable
single sign-on authentication, you instantly eliminate password fatigue
from the equation. Today, employees no longer remain inside the company
as marketing people travel to all places and access data from various
remote locations. Hence, the requirement for single sign-on
authentication has grown quite strongly.
With the single sign-on
feature, professionals no longer need to type in the same password again
and again for accessing the same set of or related data on different
systems. It also helps in largely reducing the IT support calls and
support tickets for resetting the passwords. During your interview with
access management solution providers, you need to inquire about their
plans to improve web-based single sign-on options or how they plan to
improve the existing ones.
3. What Is Your Strategy To Manage Mobile Devices, BYOD And Other Remote Access Policies?
Enterprises
can no longer deny data access from employees and vendors from remote
locations. Any denial in this regard will directly affect the
productivity of the organization. In the Middles East alone, more than
40% of enterprises encourage their employees to access corporate data
using smartphones or from remote locations. The BYOD market in the
Middle East was estimated to be $35.55 bn, and hence it becomes crucial
for organizations to bring in an Identity management solution.
Hence,
organizations are bound to provide secure access to critical data to
everyone, including partners, contractors, employees.
Not only
remote access is a problem, but the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy
also has become a culture nowadays, as many organizations are coming
forward to support this policy. Hence, you need to get confirmation from
your access management solution provider about their plan to manage
mobile devices and the operating systems they support. You cannot
blindly restrict it to Android and iOS as there are still people around
using Blackberry and Windows OS.
4. What Are The Solution Capabilities To Handle Federated Identities?
Lately,
it is not just the employees that seek access to applications and data,
but other contractors and partners working with the enterprise in one
way or another also seek permission for access to your data.
This
is a critical and risky segment as you have to spread open much of your
confidential data to outsiders, and your security strength is not
higher than the most vulnerable link in their information system. Ask
your access management solution providers whether their proposed
solution has any provisions to fit in federated identity management.
5. How Does Your Pricing Plans Justify Various Access Management Services You Offer?
Last
but not least, you need to know about the pricing being put forth by
the IAM solution provider. You cannot expect the pricing to be of the
same range as every provider.
Generally, IAM solution providers
come with quite elaborate pricing plans since the solution involves
various sophistications. To get the best pricing plan that suits your
organization, ask the provider the following questions:
• Whether they are willing to agree to a cost per user/month package.
• What
are the specific IAM domains(Identity Administration, Access Management
and Certification, Privileged User Management, Password Management,
etc.) that they cover or specialize in?
• How do the IAM service provider’s services align with your organizational security objectives?
• What is the unique proposition of the products or the services you offer?
If
they are willing to agree to it, then you are very well in the driving
seat, but remember, pricing is not the only factor in deciding an access
management solution.
Final Words
To conclude
things, choosing an Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution is
crucial for an organization as it’s the critical control around your
organization’s security periphery. It becomes even more significant as
more and more organizations are moving ‘into’ and ‘onto’ the Cloud. It
is essential to implement an effective IAM solution to safeguard and
protect your critical information assets. But it will all be made
possible only if you choose the best access management solution provider
who not only meets your budget but also supports your security needs.
The above questions you ask the access management service provider are
comprehensive. They will give you an adequate knowledge coverage of all
crucial factors you need to know in determining how efficiently the
system can handle your identity and access management requirements and
making a decision as to which service you need to choose.
Blog Written by: Gunpreet Singh - Service Delivery Manager - IAM
Know more about Paramount’s IAM Solutions: https://www.paramountassure.com/IdentitySecurity.aspx
