Today, every facet of business is connected to some type of technology. Employees use an average of 2.5 devices to get their work done. This includes computers, tablets, and smartphones. Customers also access company systems via a variety of devices to do things such as shop, check their account information, and view their online bills. With all these people accessing your systems and data from so many different devices, access management has become one of the most important things you can do to safeguard your company.
What Is Access Management?
Also known as identity and access management (IAM), access management is the combination of policies, processes, and technology that ensures only the right people have access to the right information at the right time.
How Does Access Management Work?
The goal behind access management is to verify the identity of a user before granting them access to a system and the data it contains. This is typically done using an IAM system that uses some form of authentication to confirm a user’s identity. While there are still single sign-on systems, it is becoming increasingly common to use two-factor and multifactor authentication and privileged access management.
Why Is Access Management Necessary?
Ultimately, access management keeps your data safe, whether it is in storage or in transit. There are many reasons why access management is necessary to accomplish this goal. Check them out.
- Only authorized individuals and devices can access systems and data only when they need it to perform their job.
- Access management systems that use artificial intelligence (AI) can help detect unauthorized access and deter attacks.
- Access management policies include user education on how to recognize attempts to steal their access information.
- Access management systems can monitor the activities of all users and detect unusual activity, which can help mitigate internal and external risks.
- It is easier to comply with regulatory requirements for things such as customer identification and the detection of suspicious activity with an access management system.
- Users can use single-sign-on (SSO) technology, so they only have to sign on once, and they will have access to everything they need. This means they don’t have to sign on to multiple systems using easy-to-remember passwords and multiple attempts at logging in.
- It is easy to offboard employees and customers to ensure that their accounts are disabled at the right time. This avoids idle accounts and the risk of a user’s login credentials being used to breach your security.
Your Data Is Your Business
Your data truly is everything to your business. If it falls into the wrong hands or if you lose access to it, you risk damage to your reputation, financial repercussions, and possible legal action. The best way to keep your systems and data safe is to tightly control who can access them. That is why a good access management system is paramount to the security of your company.
Contact Platinum Technologies today to find out how we can help you develop and implement an access management system that will protect your precious data.
