What is Identity Security?

Identity Security protects digital identities from unauthorized access, manipulation, or misuse across environments through comprehensive processes, principles, and tools required in modern cybersecurity strategies.

Key takeaways 

• 75% of cloud security breaches stem from Identity mismanagement — threat actors now log in rather than break in.¹
• Traditional security perimeters are obsolete — organizations need continuous verification before, during, and after authentication.
• Identity Security enables unified visibility across workforce access (e.g. employees, contractors, business partners), governance, and privileged accounts to safeguard access and manage risk.

Why Identity Security is important

Today's threat actors target Identity vulnerabilities as a primary attack vector, exploiting multiple weaknesses across organizations’ digital environments. With hybrid work expanding attack surfaces, typical exploitation methods include:

• Weak or reuse of passwords
• Stolen credentials via phishing
• Over-permissioned accounts
• Session hijacking or token theft
• Device compromise through unmanaged endpoints

These vulnerabilities enable lateral movement within organizations, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data. 

Industry-specific requirements:

• Healthcare: HIPAA compliance mandates strict Identity controls for PHI access and comprehensive audit trails
• Financial Services: SOX and PCI-DSS requirements demand privileged access management and continuous monitoring
• Government: FedRAMP and CMMC frameworks require advanced authentication and strict Identity lifecycle management
• Retail: PCI compliance needs robust Identity controls for payment systems and customer data
• Manufacturing: OT/IT convergence requires specialized Identity controls for operational technology access

Core Identity Security elements:

• Comprehensive visibility: Monitoring beyond basic SSO and MFA 
• Proactive security: Identify security gaps before exploitation 
• Rapid response: Immediate threat detection and mitigation 
• Continuous verification: Demands ongoing validation of Identity and access

Strategic goals: 

• Identity protection: Enable continuous validation and verification 
• Robust authentication: Implement passwordless FIDO2/WebAuthn standards 
• Dynamic access: Adjust permissions using real-time context
• Automated orchestration: Self-regulating policy and entitlement management 
• Unified controls: Maintain consistent security across hybrid environments 
• Frictionless user experience (UX): Enable productivity while ensuring security

Benefits of Identity Security

The advantages of implementing a secure Identity strategy extend across an organization’s operations.

• Reduced breach risk: Minimizes unauthorized access attempts with more powerful Identity controls
• Improved compliance: Satisfies regulatory requirements through better Identity management
• Enhanced user experience (UX): Streamlines access and improves productivity while maintaining security
• Better visibility: Provides insights into user behavior and potential security incidents
• Decreased costs: Automates Identity processes to reduce manual overhead
• Insider threat protection: Controls and monitors internal access to sensitive resources
• Simplified auditing: Maintains comprehensive records of Identity-related activities

How Identity Security works 

Identity Security operates holistically across technology environments, enabling:

• Prevention: Creates baseline security through strong authentication, device validation, and access policies
• Continuous monitoring: Analyzes user behavior, device health, and access patterns in real-time to detect anomalies
• Adaptive enforcement: Modifies authentication and access requirements based on:
  • User behavior and location
  • Device security posture
  • Resource sensitivity
  • Risk signals from unified security tools
• Automated response: Triggers actions like step-up authentication, session termination, or access revocation when threats are detected

Compliance requirements include:

• GDPR: EU personal data collection and processing regulation
• CCPA: California consumer Identity verification requirements
• NIST 800-63: Digital Identity guidelines and assurance levels
• ISO 27001: Identity management control objectives

Implementing Identity Security 

Discovery

• Map the complete Identity landscape, including users, permissions, and resources
• Analyze existing configurations and security gaps
• Document critical systems and access requirements
• Define risk thresholds and response protocols

Protection

• Deploy contextual authentication using biometric and phishing-resistant factors
• Configure time-bound access controls for sensitive resources
• Establish consistent security policies across environments
• Enable automated provisioning and deprovisioning

Monitoring

• Set up comprehensive threat detection using behavior analysis
• Create automated response workflows based on risk levels
• Enable security team coordination and rapid response
• Implement continuous compliance monitoring

IAM vs Identity Security

Identity and access management (IAM) helps ensure that only the right people and devices access the right applications, resources, and systems at the right time. IAM is a central pillar within Identity Security, which includes all facets of digital Identity protection.

IAM focus:

• Authentication: Verifies a user’s Identity
• Authorization: Determines user access rights

Identity Security features:

• Comprehensive protection: Safeguards identities against attack vectors
• Threat detection: Identifies and responds to Identity-based attacks
• Identity protection: Prevents credential theft and misuse
• Security integration: Works with other security tools and systems

Essential features for modern Identity Security

Identity Security implementations require a comprehensive set of capabilities across several areas:

Authentication and access management

• Adaptive MFA that adjusts security requirements based on risk context
• Phishing-resistant authentication using biometrics and hardware tokens
• Risk-based access controls that evaluate user behavior and context
• Password vaulting with automated rotation for privileged accounts
• Single sign-on (SSO) integration across cloud and on-premises systems

Detection and response

• Real-time threat monitoring using advanced behavioral analytics
• Automated incident response based on configurable risk thresholds
• Security information and event management (SIEM) systems integration
• Continuous evaluation of user risk scores and access patterns
• Immediate revocation of compromised credentials

Identity lifecycle management

• Automated user provisioning and deprovisioning
• Self-service access requests with approval workflows
• Regular access reviews and certification campaigns
• Privileged account discovery and management
• Integration with HR systems for employee lifecycle events

Identity Security and Zero Trust

Identity Security supports the Zero Trust security model of strictly verifying and validating every user and device Identity before granting access to a network or application, regardless of location.

Zero Trust leverages the concept of no implicit trust:

• Continuous verification: Uses the principle of “never trust, always verify”
• Comprehensive security: Protects across every resource and access point
• Strategic approach: Activates an overall security framework and methodology

Identity Security manages access permissions and user identities:

• Identity verification: Establishes that users are who they claim to be
• Ongoing authentication: Continuously validates access rights
• Contextual decisions: Grants access based on risk and behavior
• Security foundation: Provides the basis for Zero Trust implementation

Identity Security best practices

Core Identity Security controls protect identities, detect threats, and respond to incidents.

Authentication and access

• Strong passwords: Implement and enforce robust password policies
• Passwordless: Even better, remove passwords completely through SSO and biometric authentication
• MFA deployment: Require phishing-resistant factors (e.g. FIDO2/WebAuthn, hardware tokens) for sensitive access
• Adaptive security: Modify authentication based on risk levels
• SSO implementation: Simplify access while maintaining security

Monitoring and auditing

• Access tracking: Maintain detailed logs of all Identity activities
• Threat detection: Monitor for unusual or suspicious behavior
• Regular reviews: Periodically verify access rights and permissions
• Automated monitoring: Implement continuous security monitoring

Education and policy

• User training: Educate staff on up-to-date security methods
• Clear guidelines: Establish and communicate security policies
• Security awareness: Maintain ongoing education programs
• Incident procedures: Document response processes for security events

Identity Security challenges

Complex IT environments

• Multiple systems: Managing various applications across cloud and on-premises environments
• Authentication variations: Coordinating different authentication mechanisms and security requirements
• Control mechanisms: Integrating with existing security tools and incident management systems
• User diversity: Supporting multiple user types with different access needs

Evolving threats

• Phishing attacks: Protecting against credential theft attempts
• Credential stuffing: Preventing automated attack attempts
• Social engineering: Guarding against malicious human psychological manipulation
• Supply chain compromise: Managing risks from third-party Identity integrations
• Zero-day exploits: Defending against novel authentication bypass techniques
• Session hijacking: Preventing unauthorized capture of valid user sessions
• MFA bypass: Detecting sophisticated MFA attacks
• Advanced persistent threats: Responding to long-term targeted Identity attacks

The future of Identity Security 

According to Gartner, by 2025, 70% of new access management, governance, administration, and privileged access deployments will converge into unified Identity platforms.

This consolidation addresses current security weaknesses:

• Identity sprawl from legacy and non-cloud systems that severely impacts visibility
• Traditional point solutions that create silos between Identity and security teams
• Disparate security tools that result in poor continuous monitoring

Organizations need unified platforms that deliver:

• Real-time observability across workforce access management
• Complete visibility into Identity risk signals
• Automated threat detection and response
• Governance and privileged account administration controls

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is Identity protection?
A: Identity protection defends digital identities from theft, compromise, and misuse across on-premise and cloud environments by securing credentials, managing access rights, and continuously monitoring potential threats. 

Q: What is Identity theft?
A: In IT environments, Identity theft is when threat actors steal legitimate credentials to gain unauthorized system access. This allows attackers to achieve lateral movement within organizations and access sensitive data while appearing as valid users. 

Q: What is an Identity Security platform?
A: Identity Security platforms unify workforce access, governance, and privileged account management. They provide continuous authentication, threat detection, and automated response capabilities across environments to help organizations address growing security challenges through unified visibility and control.

Find the balance between security and UX with Okta

Discover how a comprehensive approach to Identity Security can help protect digital assets while streamlining UX and enabling more productive business operations. 

References

¹ Source Okta PDF: Solution Brief, August 2024, “A unified view of Identity.”