Since cybersecurity is expanding, organizations are exposed to threats that need new approaches. Advanced identity management systems that aid in securing access and lowering risks are among the leading solutions in this industry. Technologies from Okta, BeyondTrust, and CyberArk are amongst the many powerful systems in use to combat malicious actors. Their use is transforming how enterprises undertake identity and access management, consequently improving security levels.
Anvesh Gunuganti, a seasoned professional with expertise in identity management and cybersecurity, said, “I see the future leaning heavily towards AI-powered threat detection and adaptive identity systems”. With this ideology, he assisted the full transformation of the security management system at Change Healthcare, based on the NIST AAL Adaptive Security Framework. This particular methodology used some of the Identity-Based Zero Trust principles and both CyberArk and BeyondTrust’s methodologies. The Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing published his research paper, Risk-Based Authentication using Ping Risk module: A Path to Secure Access Management.
When designing security systems, the transformation from focusing on “how to prevent directly” to “how to rearchitect post-breach” is lessening more attacks. Such shifts in the paradigm are very important, not only because they toughen the security barriers, but they also ensure more ready and active operations devoid of fear of aggression.
Gunuganti also worked with IEEE and Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) where issues related to the evolution of identity access management (IAM) were deliberated. Such groups work towards the process of making norms for the industries which guarantees that new technologies sit well within the context of cybersecurity. He also led the IAM transformation initiative at Change Healthcare after a phishing attack. This project not only contributed to an increase in security levels but also managed to cut down on incident response measures by a staggering 40%. The use of PingFederate and CyberArk achieved a 60% reduction of the risks associated with the misuse of privileged accounts, which is a very important factor in strengthening the IT infrastructure. In addition, the use of Okta for identity management processes contributed to 25% less manual work, thus enabling teams to use resources more efficiently.
Moreover, sensors are also installed in the financial services industry. CyberArk integration helped the bank to manage all privileged access activities related to sensitive operations securely without breaching any regulatory practices. These measures are important in dealing with information assurance challenges associated with insiders as well as aiding in regulatory adherence. Integrating PingFederate single sign-on (SSO) within a large retail chain made it easy to access multiple applications without compromising security which improved the user experience.
Reportedly, the results from these endeavours highlight the advantages of contemporary identity and access management systems. For example, half the time for identity provisioning processes was achieved owing to the use of automated workflows in Okta. Operational efficiencies gained from the deployment of PingFederate alongside Okta’s unified identity management system reduced access management solution TCO by 30%. “Following the implementation of CyberArk within the healthcare systems, insider risk incidences decreased, resulting in a 20% increase in healthcare performance measures regarding cybersecurity” he shared insights.
However, integrating old systems with new identity systems is complicated, mainly in hosted environments that have components both in the cloud and on-premise. When implementing CyberArk on a large scale, factors such as adherence to the regulatory framework can become an issue that comes with painstaking management of the compliance requirements. In addition, utilizing Okta to deploy adaptive multi-mode (multifactor) authentication (MFA) can prove to be invaluable for organizations complying with the likes of CCPA and GDPR restrictive laws.
Looking at the future of identity management and cybersecurity, it seems that many things to come will revolve around artificial intelligence. There are possibilities for the enhancement of security through AI-based threat detection and identity systems that can change according to the mode of operation. Services offered by companies such as Okta and CyberArk will soon have behavioural analytics powered with artificial intelligence making the processes of authentication more fluid when responding to risks. With the acceptance of Zero Trust architecture, anyone operating in the real world who has not adopted this model will be conquered when faced with threats.
As impacts of change in technology continue to be felt in the information and communication industries, solutions like PingFederate and BeyondTrust will also progress in their performance with the inclusion of cloud-native capabilities for hybrid, multi-cloud deployment. The way ahead would require organizations to actively embrace new technologies while ensuring that security and compliance are not compromised.
