All-In-One Identity Management and Cloud Security

In 2008, a rogue trader at Société Générale, one of France's largest banks, caused a staggering €4.9 billion loss due to unchecked trading activities. This shocking event highlighted a critical gap in the bank’s risk management framework, leading to significant financial and reputational damage.

Such incidents underscore the urgent need for robust risk management systems in organizations of all sizes. Effective risk management is not just about avoiding financial disasters—it's about safeguarding your organization’s assets, data, and reputation. In this blog post, we will delve into the complexities of risk management, offering insights and strategies to help you create a resilient risk management system tailored to your organization’s needs.

Understanding Risk

Risk isn't binary (risky or not); it's multi-faceted and depends on the context of the business.

It involves identifying and addressing a wide array of potential threats that can impact various aspects of a business. Here are some key categories of risks that organizations need to consider:

1. Technical Risks: These risks arise from the technical aspects of an organization's operations. For example, the ability to create new admin users in a cloud environment like Azure can lead to significant security vulnerabilities if not properly managed.
2. Data Access Risks: Unauthorized access to sensitive data poses a substantial risk. If critical information is compromised, it can lead to data breaches, financial losses, and damage to an organization's reputation.
3. Traditional GRC Risks: Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) risks are often financial in nature. They include scenarios such as unauthorized financial transactions or fraudulent activities within ERP systems, which can result in substantial financial and legal repercussions.
   
   

Crafting a Robust Risk Management Strategy

Creating an effective risk management system requires a structured approach that includes identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks. Here are some essential strategies that we at EmpowerID always keep in mind:

1. Define Risk Functions and Policies:
   • Risk Functions: Identify and define the specific activities or tasks within your organization that pose potential risks. For instance, resetting admin passwords or creating purchase orders. This we further classify into Global vs Local Functions. Global functions define general activities, while local functions specify context-specific activities (e.g., resetting passwords in Azure vs. SAP).
   • Risk Policies: Develop policies that outline which combinations of activities are considered risky. This helps in preventing scenarios like the same individual being able to create and approve purchase orders, which can lead to fraud.
2. Implement Comprehensive Mapping and Compilation:
   • Risk Mapping: Establish a system that identifies which users or roles have the ability to perform specific functions. This mapping should be regularly updated to ensure accurate risk assessment. A common risk policy used for defining this is called Segregation of Duties (SoD), where certain combinations of functions (e.g., creating and approving purchase orders) are restricted.
   • Compilation Process: Regularly compile and evaluate risk data to keep your risk management system up-to-date and responsive to new threats.

Risk Detection and Mitigation

Effective risk management involves both detecting potential risks and implementing measures to mitigate them. Here are two primary methods:

1. Preventative Measures: These measures are implemented during access requests. By evaluating potential risks before granting access, you can block or flag risky combinations proactively.
2. Detective Measures: Regular audits and checks help identify existing risky combinations. By generating alerts or reports, you can address these risks promptly.

Implementing Mitigating Controls

Mitigating controls are actions taken to reduce the likelihood or impact of a risk. These controls are essential for managing risks that cannot be completely eliminated. Examples include:

• Regular Transaction Log Reviews: For activities like deleting domain controllers, regular reviews of transaction logs can help monitor and detect unauthorized actions.
• Segregation of Duties (SoD): This principle ensures that no single individual has control over all aspects of a critical transaction. For instance, separating the roles of creating and approving purchase orders.

Advanced Features for Effective Risk Management

A robust risk management system leverages advanced features to provide more precise and comprehensive control. Here are some advanced strategies:

1. Fine-Grained Permissions: In systems like SAP, permissions can be mapped down to individual actions and data levels. This granular control allows for more detailed risk management.
2. Role Definitions and Inheritance: Support for complex role hierarchies and inherited permissions ensures that all potential risk sources are considered, making the system more resilient.
3. User-Friendly Interfaces and Reporting: Implement interfaces that allow users to request access and view risk-related information easily. Digest emails and reports provide comprehensive views of risk violations and statuses, aiding in timely decision-making.

Practical Implementation: Use Cases and Examples

Implementing a risk management system involves real-world applications and scenarios. Here are some practical examples:

1. Risk Policy Creation and Management: Develop and manage risk policies that map functions and set up mitigating controls. This includes creating segregation of duties policies to prevent fraud and unauthorized actions.
2. Recertification Processes: Integrate risk information into access recertification workflows. This ensures that managers can understand and address potential risks during periodic reviews, enhancing overall security.

Conclusion

In conclusion, mastering risk management requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses the identification, assessment, and mitigation of various risks. By defining clear risk functions and policies, implementing robust mapping and compilation processes, and leveraging advanced features, organizations can create an effective risk management system. This proactive stance on risk management not only protects assets and data but also ensures long-term business success and resilience.

For organizations looking to enhance their risk management capabilities, it's essential to stay informed about best practices and continuously adapt to new challenges. By following the strategies outlined in this post, businesses can build a solid foundation for managing risks effectively.

The 2024 European Identity and Cloud Conference (EIC2024) in Berlin, Germany, features a series of insightful sessions by EmpowerID's Identity experts. This guide provides an overview of each session, along with links to their abstracts, to help you decide which ones pique your interests. 

Patrick Parker, CEO & Co-Founder EmpowerID

1. Unpacking Authorization Approaches: Policy as Code Versus Traditional Business Needs

• Type: Pre-conference Event
• Date & Time: Tuesday, June 04, 2024, 08:30—10:00
• Location: A 05-06
• Abstract: Session Details

In this session, Patrick Parker will delve into the differences between policy-as-code approaches and traditional business needs, exploring how each impacts authorization strategies.

2. Navigating the New IGA Frontier: Harnessing LLM AI Agents with Dynamic Authorization

• Type: Keynote
• Date & Time: Tuesday, June 04, 2024, 18:50—19:10
• Location: C 01
• Abstract: Session Details

Join Patrick Parker as he discusses the integration of Large Language Models (LLM) and AI agents in Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) for dynamic authorization.

3. Panel: Executive Alert: Navigating AI-Driven Security Threats for Boards and C-Suites

• Type: Combined Session
• Date & Time: Wednesday, June 05, 2024, 14:30—14:50
• Location: B 09
• Abstract: Session Details

This panel will cover AI-driven security threats, providing crucial insights for board members and C-suite executives.

4. Panel: Policy Engines in Practice

• Type: Combined Session
• Date & Time: Friday, June 07, 2024, 10:50—11:30
• Location: A 03-04
• Abstract: Session Details

Explore practical applications of policy engines in various business environments in this comprehensive panel discussion.

Anishma Mavuram, Product Manager

Trust, Transparency, and User Experience in AI-Driven Identity and Access Management

• Type: Combined Session
• Date & Time: Wednesday, June 05, 2024, 12:45—13:00
• Location: B 07-08
• Abstract: Session Details

Anishma Mahuvaram will discuss how AI-driven IAM solutions can balance trust, transparency, and user experience.

Adeel Javaid, IAM Engineer

AI-Driven Identity Verification: Balancing Security and Privacy

• Type: Combined Session
• Date & Time: Wednesday, June 05, 2024, 14:50—15:10
• Location: B 09
• Abstract: Session Details

Adeel Javaid's session will focus on the challenges and solutions in balancing security and privacy during AI-driven identity verification.

Hammad Ul Haq, Solution Architect

Unlocking Identity Security with Behavioral Biometrics and AI

• Type: Combined Session
• Date & Time: Thursday, June 06, 2024, 15:45—16:00
• Location: A 05-06
• Abstract: Session Details

Hammad Ul Haq will present how behavioral biometrics and AI can enhance identity security.

We hope this guide helps you navigate the EmpowerID sessions at EIC2024. Be sure to click on the session abstracts for more detailed information. See you in Berlin!

As we step into another innovative year for Identity, EmpowerID is excited to announce its participation in a series of prestigious events and conferences dedicated to Identity Management (IAM), Cybersecurity, AI, and Cloud technologies. Whether you're an industry veteran or a rising star in the field, these events are a golden opportunity to network, learn, and discover more about the Industry and how you can propel your enterprise forward. Here's your guide to where we'll be in 2024, discussing the latest innovations in IAM to the cutting-edge of cloud security.

Here's where you can find us in 2024: 

EmpowerID 2024 Event Calendar 

Innovate Cybersecurity Summit
Date: February 25-27 
Location: Nashville, TN, USA 
Description: CISOs from Fortune 2000 converge to discuss security innovation at Innovate. 

RSA Conference 2024 
Date: May 6-9, 2024 
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA 
Description: EmpowerID discusses next-gen cybersecurity at RSA, connecting with global security professionals. 

European Cloud Summit 
Date: May 14-16, 2024 
Location: Wiesbaden, Germany 
Description: EmpowerID discusses its solutions for Entra, Identity and Security amongst the biggest cloud technology providers in the world.

Identiverse 
Date: May 28-31, 2024 
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA 
Description: EmpowerID demonstrates robust IAM solutions for businesses ranging from SMBs to Fortune 500. 

KuppingerCole European Identity and Cloud Conference (EIC) 
Date: June 4-7, 2024 
Location: Berlin, Germany 
Description: Experience the synergy of Identity & Cloud with EmpowerID at the KuppingerCole Conference. Catch 3 Live Speakers from EmpowerID discussing the latest in AI and Identity. 

IT SA - The IT Security Expo and Congress
Date: October 22-24, 2024 
Location: Nuremberg, Germany 
Description: Join EmpowerID at IT SA, the pinnacle event for security expertise in the German market. 

Gartner IAM Summit
Date: December 9-11, 2024 
Location: Dallas 
Description: Fortune 500 companies connect to discuss the latest in IAM/IGA/PAM at Gartner IAM. 

Managing the vast array of mailboxes within a growing organization with new Joiners, Leavers, Movers every single month has become an increasingly complex task for IT Teams, especially with the widespread adoption of Microsoft's Exchange Online as part of the Office 365 suite.

Traditionally, IT teams have managed organizational mailboxes through manual setup and maintenance processes. This involves creating mailboxes for new users, setting permissions, and deleting accounts for those who left the company, all this is done using on-premises servers and software. Heavily relying on in-house IT staff to monitor, update, and enforce security policies and access controls, often using scripts or native tools provided by the email platform. As the organizations grow though, these methods start becoming increasingly cumbersome and less efficient, lacking the agility and security demanded by modern digital workplaces.

Traditional mailbox management methods presented several challenges:

1. Manual Processes: Time-consuming and error-prone manual administration.
2. Lack of Scalability: Difficulty managing large volumes of mailbox requests.
3. Inconsistent Policy Enforcement: Security policies were not always uniformly applied.
4. Auditing Challenges: Complicated and labor-intensive auditing and reporting for compliance.
5. Basic Access Controls: Inadequate controls led to excessive user permissions.
6. Slow Incident Response: Delayed action in addressing security incidents.
7. Inefficient User Lifecycle Management: Cumbersome onboarding and offboarding processes.
8. Dependence on Legacy Systems: Difficulties in updating integrated legacy infrastructures.

This task, often referred to as delegated mailbox management, has undergone a significant transformation, thanks to innovative approaches and technologies that redefine its execution and oversight.

The New Era of Mailbox Management

The legacy methods of mailbox management often involved tedious, manual processes that not only consumed valuable time but also left room for errors and security vulnerabilities. The shift to cloud-based email services like Exchange Online promised efficiency and scalability, yet it also demanded a new level of expertise in managing permissions, access controls, and governance policies.

Modern mailbox management requires a solution that not only simplifies these tasks but does so with a stringent focus on security. This is where advanced identity governance and administration (IGA) platforms come into play. They offer a transformative approach that aligns with the principle of least privilege and the Zero Trust model — the idea that no one is trusted by default from inside or outside the network, and verification is required from everyone trying to gain access to resources on the network.

EmpowerID: The Vanguard of Delegated Mailbox Administration

EmpowerID's Exchange Online Manager offers a transformative approach to mailbox governance in Microsoft 365. It serves as a comprehensive solution for CISOs and IT Heads who are grappling with the complexities of mailbox governance in the cloud era. Leveraging the Jellybeans Zero Trust model, it delivers precision, security, and ease in delegated mailbox administration tasks.

Enhanced Mailbox Control

• Comprehensive Mailbox Management: Supports diverse mailbox types, with a policy-driven setup that aligns with compliance and governance from the start.
• Governance-Focused Onboarding: Initiate governance controls with a wizard-driven process that ensures proper assignment of ownership, access approvals, and licensing from the moment of mailbox creation.
• Policy-Based Mailbox Provisioning: Automate mailbox provisioning in cloud-only and hybrid modes, ensuring compliance and efficiency.
• Delegated Mailbox Administration: Apply granular delegated administration to all mailbox tasks without granting elevated native system access, embodying the principles of Zero Trust within your organization.

Security and Compliance at the Forefront

• Robust Auditing Capabilities: Maintain a robust audit trail with configurable settings that support stringent compliance standards like GDPR and HIPAA.
• Seamless Permission Synchronization: Automate the synchronization of mailbox permissions, reflecting changes in real-time and simplifying access management.

User-Centric Functionality

• Intuitive Administrative Experience: EmpowerID provides a user-friendly interface that simplifies complex tasks into wizard-based workflows, ensuring a smooth user experience for administrators.
• Self-Service Empowerment: End-users can safely request access to necessary resources, fostering autonomy within a secure, monitored framework.

Integration and Scalability

• Seamless System Integration: EmpowerID harmonizes with existing directory services and ITSM processes, enhancing the organization's existing investment in Microsoft 365.
• Designed for Scale: Manage large volumes of mailboxes with no performance trade-offs, thanks to an architecture optimized for high demand and complex organizational structures.

Complementing Exchange Online's Security Features

Reinforced Security Controls: EmpowerID enhances the existing security features of Exchange Online by adding robust management and access control layers. This integration helps to strengthen the overall security posture without duplicating or replacing Exchange Online's native security functionalities.

Conclusion: The Strategic Edge

EmpowerID's Exchange Online Manager is not just a solution—it is a strategic enhancement to your organization's email management. It merges security, compliance, and efficiency, providing a centralized, streamlined, and secure mailbox management system. Experience the future of mailbox administration with EmpowerID, where advanced governance meets intuitive design.

ServiceNow is a powerful platform for IT service management (ITSM) and enterprise service management (ESM), helping organizations streamline their business processes, automate workflows, and provide efficient services to employees and customers. But what if you could take your ServiceNow experience to the next level by integrating it with Identity and Access Management (IAM) capabilities?

For ServiceNow experts seeking to enhance their service management capabilities while addressing the complexities of Identity and Access Management (IAM), the integration of EmpowerID with ServiceNow offers a powerful best-of-breed solution, bridging the gap between IAM and service management. Let's delve into the key aspects of how EmpowerID enhances your ServiceNow experience.

Identity Lifecycle for ServiceNow

The EmpowerID Identity Lifecycle for ServiceNow automates account provisioning and access assignments, making it a game-changer for organizations. By implementing policy-based "Compliant Access," one can effectively eliminate security challenges and human errors commonly associated with manual user creation and access assignment within ServiceNow.

One significant advantage is the ability to detect changes originating from your HR system, which trigger manual lifecycle events. EmpowerID can efficiently handles these changes, automating the provisioning and deprovisioning of user accounts across various environments and tenants. During the deprovisioning process, it ensures a graceful handover of responsibilities and the transfer of data ownership, all in adherence to your pre-defined business policies.

ServiceCatalog and ServiceDesk Enhancements

EmpowerID’s integration with the ServiceNow service desk allows the identity management tasks and self-service actions performed or initiated within EmpowerID to be integrated with the ServiceNow ticket tracking system. This ensures that all requests have a ticket in ServiceNow. Approvals can optionally be performed in ServiceNow, but the actions that happen in EmpowerID keep you updated, ensuring that you never lose visibility of what's happening in your EmpowerID system. Tickets reflect all those changes within ServiceNow.

Integrating with the ServiceCatalog further allows access requests initiated from within the ServiceNow interface to be fulfilled by EmpowerID. EmpowerID has numerous IT connectors, extending the reach of ServiceNow requests to allow them to be fully automated with fulfillment.

Zero Trust Delegated Administration for ServiceNow

The concept of Zero Trust is a cornerstone of modern security strategies. However, out-of-the-box, ServiceNow's security model do not align with the principles of Zero Trust, as it involves granting users permanent unproxied access to systems. Permanent privileged access is challenging to monitor and may expose organizations to security risks.

This is where EmpowerID's unique approach shines. EmpowerID overlays a unified security model on top of native applications or systems, such as ServiceNow. This overlay effectively integrates EmpowerID's granular security model with the native system, allowing for fine-grained delegated administrative privileges. In essence, EmpowerID transforms ServiceNow into a Zero Trust-capable system.

With EmpowerID, granular administrative control can be delegated to users within specific business units or partner organizations. This level of fine-grained delegation supports even the most complex global organizations and multitenancy scenarios, all without the need to grant native administrative privileges.

ServiceNow Compliance and Recertification

EmpowerID brings granularity, control, and functionality to ServiceNow, simplifying the audit process and compliance management. Auditing ServiceNow environments can be challenging, particularly in proving who has access to specific applications and roles.

EmpowerID solves this by maintaining an up-to-date audit and providing complete control over access across all your ServiceNow tenants. This transparency streamlines the certification process and almost automatically produces the necessary proof for audits.

EmpowerID also includes built-in attestation policies that allow for rapid periodic recertification of ServiceNow group and role assignments, eliminating the hassle of auditing this critical infrastructure. The categorization of external users and risk-based Separation of Duties policies further enhance the compliance and governance capabilities within ServiceNow.

Orchestration Pack – Entitlement Sync and Workflows

The Orchestration Pack for ServiceNow empowers process designers to leverage EmpowerID capabilities within their ServiceNow business processes. This pack introduces workflow activities, web services, and example workflows, offering unparalleled flexibility.

For example, it includes a job that synchronizes and maintains an up-to-date list of requestable groups and roles from the EmpowerID Identity Warehouse to custom tables in your ServiceNow tenants. These workflow activities permit users to request access to entitlements in any EmpowerID-connected system directly from the ServiceNow Service Catalog.

Notably, example workflows are fully customizable, with no restrictions on modifications. This flexibility allows ServiceNow process designers to incorporate these workflows into existing and future workflows, tailoring them to specific organizational needs.

AI-Powered Chat Bot Virtual Assistant

EmpowerID's AI-powered chat bot virtual assistant empowers users to perform self-service automation across various routine tasks, including password resets and unlocks. The chat bot offers users the convenience of self-service automation through their preferred communication channels, such as SMS, Teams, web, mobile, and the ServiceNow portal.

Behind the scenes, the chat bot interacts with EmpowerID's visually designed workflows to securely automate Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) processes that interact with both Cloud and on-premise applications and systems. Users can perform tasks like password resets, application and group access requests, SAP role access requests, privileged credential management, mobile login to SSO applications, and more, streamlining routine tasks and improving user productivity.

Key Capabilities of EmpowerID in the ServiceNow Environment

1. Single Sign-On (SSO): EmpowerID enables seamless SSO for ServiceNow, streamlining user access with one set of credentials and enhancing security.
2. User Provisioning and Deprovisioning: EmpowerID automates user onboarding and offboarding, reducing administrative overhead during employee transitions.
3. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): EmpowerID extends granular RBAC policies to ServiceNow, ensuring users have appropriate access based on their job roles.
4. Self-Service Capabilities: EmpowerID empowers users with self-service features for actions like password resets and profile updates, reducing IT support tickets.
5. Governance and Compliance: EmpowerID offers access certification and compliance management, ensuring ServiceNow aligns with regulatory standards and internal policies.
6. Workflow Orchestration: EmpowerID's workflow engine streamlines service requests, approvals, and other processes within ServiceNow.

Enhancing IT Service Management with EmpowerID

• Efficient User Onboarding: EmpowerID's user provisioning allows new employees to access ServiceNow immediately, improving IT issue resolution.
• Service Desk Productivity: Self-service options reduce service desk tickets, enhancing productivity and allowing teams to focus on complex tasks.
• Automated Access Requests: Streamlined access request workflows enable users to request specific ServiceNow functionalities, which are automatically approved and provisioned.

Strengthening Identity and Access Management with ServiceNow

• Unified Identity Management: EmpowerID centralizes user identities within the broader IAM strategy, encompassing the entire enterprise.
• Access Governance: EmpowerID's access certification and audit capabilities apply to ServiceNow, certifying access to functions and data, bolstering security and compliance.
  
  

Conclusion

In conclusion, the EmpowerID and ServiceNow integration delivers a comprehensive solution that seamlessly combines the capabilities of IAM with service management. This integration enhances identity lifecycle management, provides Zero Trust delegated administration, simplifies compliance and recertification, and offers flexible orchestration and automation through AI-powered chat bot virtual assistants. It's a powerful tool for ServiceNow experts looking to maximize the potential of their service management platform while addressing IAM challenges.

Azure Active Directory (now EntraID) plays a crucial role in managing user identities and controlling access to resources. Many applications rely on Azure AD to authenticate themselves, and this often involves the use of client secrets and certificates. However, the expiration of these credentials can lead to significant operational disruptions, making it vital for organizations to monitor and manage them effectively.

The Consequences of Ignoring Expiry

Replacing a client secret or certificate is a straightforward task when performed proactively. However, the real dilemma arises when these credentials expire unexpectedly. When an application suddenly stops working, organizations must scramble to identify the root cause, leading to downtime, loss of productivity, and potential financial implications.

One would imagine that a solution to this inevitable problem should exist out of the box within Azure Application Objects, but that is not the case. This seemingly insignificant problem can cause many failed application accesses, leading to unavoidable application downtime as the sync process basically stops working and users won't be able to sign in to their applications.

The Problem of Credential Expiration

When applications use the client credential flow in Azure AD, they must present valid credentials to prove their identity when requesting access tokens. These credentials come in two forms:

1. Client Secrets: These are essentially secret strings that serve as application passwords. They are used to authenticate the application and obtain access tokens.
2. Certificates: Certificates function as cryptographic keys that verify the application's identity. They act as a form of public key authentication when requesting access tokens.

While using client secrets and certificates is essential for secure authentication, it also introduces a challenge – their expiration. When these credentials reach their expiration dates, applications face authentication failures, rendering them unable to access the resources they need. This can disrupt critical business processes and lead to frustration among users.

The Need for Proactive Monitoring

To sidestep the unwelcome consequences of credential expiration, the need for proactive monitoring of client secrets and certificates within Azure AD applications cannot be overstated. Organizations require a reliable system capable of diligently tracking the status of these credentials and notifying the relevant stakeholders well in advance of their impending expiration.

Such proactive notifications grant organizations a crucial window of opportunity. This interval allows them to take pre-emptive corrective actions, thereby safeguarding the continuity of their operations and preserving seamless functionality.

In the quest for such solutions, a journey into the labyrinth of the internet awaits. It's a landscape where countless DIY solutions emerge like chaotic fragments of a puzzle. Among these are the ingenious yet often complicated Macgyvered solutions, including the utilization of Azure Automation runbooks scripted in PowerShell to schedule scans for certificates and client secrets. While some may find these makeshift solutions intriguing, it's our firm belief that users should never find themselves dependent on such methods for managing their Certificate Renewals.

Solution: Monitoring with EmpowerID

With EmpowerID, the solution becomes as simple as a few clicks. Thanks to our library of out-of-the-box workflows, you can effortlessly trigger a No Code Workflow event. This ensures that, in the event of an impending certificate or secret expiration, you receive a timely reminder directly in your inbox.

EmpowerID's monitoring system maintains a vigilant watch over all applications, issuing timely alerts to application owners. These alerts are strategically sent out, typically 30, 14, and 7 days prior to the credentials' expiration. Notifications are conveniently delivered via email and Microsoft Teams, ensuring that application owners are promptly informed.

This proactive approach empowers organizations to stay ahead of credential expiration issues, preventing unexpected disruptions and safeguarding access to critical resources. Furthermore, EmpowerID's flexibility allows for customization, enabling organizations to tailor monitoring to their specific needs.

Taking Monitoring a Step Further

EmpowerID doesn't stop at just expiration reminders. It can also be configured to send alerts whenever a client secret or certificate is created for an app. This is critical because unauthorized application connections to your Azure AD could potentially be the first step in a security breach by an external entity. Achieving all of this with a straightforward Drag-and-Drop Workflow is a testament to the flexibility of EmpowerID's workflow engine.

Entra is the new name for Microsoft's family of identity and access technologies brought together in one place and under one portal.This marks Microsoft's foray into a full-suite Identity Management which began with the rebranding of its Azure Active Directory framework. 

However, like any other technology, it comes with its own set of limitations. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the features of EntraID while simultaneously discussing the boundaries that organizations may encounter when implementing this platform.

Features & Drawbacks of Microsoft EntraID:

1. Access Packages:

One of the core features of EntraID is its "Access Packages." These packages function as an Identity Management (IM) shopping cart, allowing organizations to bundle access rights conveniently. This feature simplifies the process of granting permissions to users, especially in large enterprises with complex access requirements. However, it's essential to recognize that the scope of EntraID's access packages is not without limitations.

Limitation: EntraID's access packages are primarily designed for use within Azure AD. While they simplify access management for Azure resources, these Access Packages are limited to just the roles and objects within your Azure Active Directory. Managing access for users with roles beyond Azure AD, such as Salesforce, SAP, or ServiceNow, is not possible within Entra.

2. Governance Capabilities:

EntraID extends Azure AD's governance capabilities, enabling organizations to define access policies, manage user lifecycles, and enforce security policies. It aims to provide a comprehensive framework for identity governance, which is crucial for compliance and risk management.

Limitation: EntraID's governance capabilities might fall short when dealing with complex multi-system environments. The platform's primary focus is on governing objects within Azure AD, limiting its effectiveness in managing access across disparate directories and systems.

3. Conditional Access and MFA:

EntraID includes robust support for Conditional Access and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). These security features play a pivotal role in protecting sensitive data and ensuring that only authorized users gain access to resources.

Limitation: While EntraID excels in securing Azure resources, it may not seamlessly integrate with all external applications and services. Organizations utilizing a diverse set of tools may face challenges in implementing uniform Conditional Access policies across their entire ecosystem.

4. Verified ID and Distributed Identity:

EntraID introduces the concept of "Verified ID," which aligns with the emerging trend of distributed identities and self-sovereign identities. This feature holds the promise of a decentralized, trust-based approach to identity management.

Limitation: The adoption of Verified ID and distributed identity models may require a shift in the way organizations approach identity. Achieving full interoperability and trust between different identity providers can be complex and time-consuming, potentially limiting the immediate practicality of this feature.

Addressing the Limitations:

While Microsoft EntraID offers a robust set of features for identity management and access control, it becomes inherently limited by its sole reliance on Azure AD as its only directory as its identity warehouse to manage all its identities (even across external systems). Thus limiting its management capabilities in various avenues.

1. Integration with External Systems: For managing access to external systems, consider using identity management solutions that offer comprehensive connectors and integration capabilities. This allows you to extend governance beyond Azure AD.

2. Recertification and Compliance: Implement a dedicated recertification solution or process to address the limitations of EntraID in recertifying access across various systems. This can help ensure compliance with security policies.

3. Hybrid Identity Management: In complex multi-cloud or multi-system environments, consider a hybrid identity management approach that combines the strengths of EntraID with other IAM solutions to bridge the gap.

4. Verified ID and Distributed Identity: Embrace the concept of verified and distributed identities gradually. Start by exploring use cases where these models align with your organization's goals and where trust relationships can be established.

Conclusion

Microsoft EntraID presents a compelling solution for identity and access management, particularly within the Azure ecosystem. Its features offer valuable tools for simplifying identity governance and enhancing security. However, organizations must be mindful of its limitations, especially when managing access to external systems and diverse environments.

While Azure AD is a single directory, EmpowerID takes a Meta-Directory approach, encompassing all objects, roles, and users from over 100 different external systems. This provides organizations with comprehensive governance, recertification, and risk management capabilities covering all aspects of identity management and extending well beyond Microsoft Entra.

In our previous article, we covered the benefits and drawbacks of different authorization models, namely:

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC)
• Policy-Based Access Control (PBAC)

We summarized that each of them had its unique characteristics. However, for organizations aiming to scale and manage thousands of users, no single method covers all use cases and application technologies. This is because certain types of applications and use cases are better suited for a structured role-based approach, while others require real-time contextual decisions.

While there are overlapping qualities among these models, individually, none of them can address all the necessary aspects of access control. To meet the needs of these organizations, a combination of the benefits from all these authorization models is required to fully ensure the security requirements of enterprises from every possible angle.

This is where the need for a hybrid authorization model arises. With all these considerations, we at EmpowerID embarked on a journey to create a perfect authorization recipe – one that encompassed all aspects of authorization without the drawbacks associated with each model. The result of this endeavor is a unique hybrid approach that combines role and attribute compliance, which we aptly named "Compliant Access Delivery."

The overall goal of Compliant Access Delivery required using the best of each approach implemented following the principles of Zero Trust and Least Privilege. Based on RBAC relational modeling, it provides the backbone or
structure for defining an organization and its overall policies while leveraging the flexibility and real-time contextual nature of ABAC and PBAC to offer the most comprehensive access control solution. 

Compliant Access Delivery

“Compliant Access Delivery” is, first, the capability to map out in advance the position appropriate access for employees, partners, and customers and the risk policies that will measure and ensure continued compliance and to then monitor and enforce this compliant state through automation.

The natural follow-up question to this is “What makes access compliant?” Compliant access is appropriate to the person to whom it is assigned in accordance with the organizational standards and business policies to minimize risk. Compliant Access Delivery synthesizes multiple Identity and Access Management (IAM) technologies with a business modeling approach to automate and maintain each user's appropriate access to IT systems while continuously minimizing risk. 

Compliant Access is a well-defined target state against which the current state can be
measured.

The key to Compliant Access are the words “appropriate” and compliant with “business policies.” With Compliant Access, the devil is in the details, and that is where traditional solutions miss the mark. Due to its distinct language, processes, and policies, Compliant Access cannot be delivered by an IAM system that doesn't bridge the divide between the technical system and the business. With its operating procedures, industry norms, and regulatory restrictions, the business defines which jobs are appropriate, what constitutes a risk, and what is considered non-compliant. To achieve this, EmpowerID leverages both the organization’s business model and its language to enforce and provision Compliant Access across Cloud and on-premises systems.

How Does Compliant Access Leverage Your Business Model? 

Defining business-appropriate access is a challenge for IT organizations using their existing IAM systems. These systems were designed to manage only the technical aspects of access control and universally lack a conceptual “bridge” to tie the technical entitlements to the business’s operating model and the activities or “Functions” performed by its participants. 

Everything we cover in this blog can be explored further in our whitepaper “A Guide to Authorization”. You can find that whitepaper here: 

Business Processes and Functions

Businesses are composed of processes for producing and delivering goods or services. These processes involve tasks performed by internal and external participants. Each task can be divided into functions needed for its completion. For instance, creating a purchase order is a function within a purchasing process. While a purchase order is recognizable and its creation straightforward, not all employees should have this ability. During access reviews, managers can easily identify authorized users. This simplicity contrasts with technical entitlements that grant system access, often named confusingly. Functions bridge the gap between technical access and business understanding, ensuring a clear separation between business and IT.

Risk Policies

Compliant Access must be "appropriate" and align with an organization's "business policies." These policies are specific to the organization and cater to its operations, industry, processes, and regulations. Notably, these policies are distinct from the organization's IT systems. For example, the customer acquisition process's risks remain consistent across different Customer Relationship Managers (CRMs) like SalesForce.com or HubSpot. Users' end-to-end functions can be defined before any IT system interaction. Identifying higher-risk functions and potential fraud combinations empowers threat mitigation. Crucially, establishing risk policies at the function level ensures core business activities are monitored effectively. Business users often face confusion when risk policies are tied to technical entitlements instead of familiar business concepts, hindering visibility into actual actions.

Bridging the Gap between Business and Technology

To align business-appropriate access and risk policies, focusing on functions is crucial. This requires bridging them to IT systems, where business specialists play a key role. They map out business processes, activities, and roles involved (Figure 41). Collaborating with IT experts, they convert functions into task-based application roles within specific systems (Figure 42). EmpowerID supports mapping roles to functions and even mapping fine-grained permissions to functions. This clarifies which IT entitlements enable functions, who can perform them, and how access is assigned. Functions enhance business clarity in your IT landscape.

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