Identity Access Management (IAM) Explained

What is Identity and Access Management (IAM)?

Identity and access management (IAM) is a cybersecurity framework in which the IT team controls access to computer systems, cloud applications, networks, and assets based on each user or device’s digital identity.

An IAM tool's core functions are to:

• Assign a single digital identity to each user
• Authenticate the user
• Authorize appropriate access to relevant resources
• Monitor and manage identities to align with changes within the organization

Why is IAM important?

In the digital landscape, organizations are under significant pressure to ensure their corporate infrastructure and assets — including data — are secure. At the same time, they must also provide a frictionless user experience to authorized users, who need access to a wide variety of digital resources — including on-premises and cloud resources — to perform their jobs.

As the IT environment becomes more complex due to a proliferation of connected devices and the acceleration of the “work from anywhere” trend, organizations must ensure they provide the right level of access to all users in a seamless and efficient way.

IAM tools help organizations streamline and automate IAM tasks and enable more granular access controls and privileges. With an IAM solution, IT teams no longer need to manually assign access controls, monitor and update privileges, or deprovision accounts. Organizations can also enable a single sign-on (SSO) tool to authenticate a user’s identity and allow access to multiple applications and websites with just one set of credentials.

How is IAM different from identity security?

Technically speaking, IAM tools are management solutions, not security solutions. Though IAM tools can help restrict access to resources by managing digital identities, IAM policies, programs, and technologies are not designed primarily for security.

For example, IAM technologies that store and manage identities to provide SSO or multi-factor authentication (MFA) capabilities cannot detect and prevent identity-driven attacks in real time. Likewise, IAM solutions are an important part of the overall identity strategy, but they typically lack deep visibility into endpoints, devices, and workloads in addition to identities and user behavior.

At the same time, identity protection does not replace IAM policies, programs, and technologies. Instead identity protection serves to complement and enhance IAM with advanced threat detection and prevention capabilities. It adds much-needed security for every user — whether it’s a human, service account, or privileged account — to help negate security risks within Active Directory.

Finally, though identity security and IAM are critical capabilities within the security architecture, it is important to remember that these are just two components within a broader security platform. To ensure the strongest protection, organizations must develop a comprehensive cyber defense strategy that includes endpoint security, IT security, cloud workload protection, and container security.

IAM benefits

By implementing an IAM solution, organizations can see the following benefits:

• Optimal access and authentication customized for individual entities
• Improved productivity by providing users with SSO solutions that prevent them from having to memorize multiple passwords
• Reduced risk of data breaches, as the right users have the right amount of access to the right assets
• Increased collaboration among different teams and vendors because security is implemented throughout all processes
• Easier adherence to compliance requirements because regulations and standards are baked into the tool

Detailed IAM components 

By integrating the following essential methods and technologies, IAM enables organizations to protect sensitive information while supporting productivity and regulatory compliance.

• Identity Life Cycle Management: This component manages the entire life cycle of digital identities within an organization, from creation to maintenance and offboarding. By overseeing identities throughout their life cycle, organizations can ensure that access rights remain accurate, adapting to role changes, promotions, or organizational shifts. This minimizes security risks associated with outdated permissions.
• Access Control Mechanisms: IAM tools enforce role-based access control (RBAC) and privileged access management (PAM) policies, which grant users only the permissions necessary to perform their jobs. These mechanisms implement the principle of least privilege (POLP), a security best practice that minimizes potential attack vectors by limiting access to sensitive resources, thereby reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
• Authentication and Authorization: Authentication and authorization are at the heart of IAM, determining how users verify their identities and what they are permitted to access. Though traditional password-based authentication remains common, more secure methods such as MFA and SSO have become standard. These approaches enhance security by adding layers of verification, making it harder for unauthorized users to gain access while improving the user experience by reducing access hurdles.
• Identity Governance: Identity governance provides oversight and monitoring, helping organizations track and manage who has access to specific resources and why. Through auditing and tracking, organizations can ensure that access permissions align with regulatory standards like the GDPR and HIPAA, aiding compliance and strengthening data protection. Governance mechanisms also support reporting and visibility, which are crucial for maintaining transparency and accountability in access management.
• Integrated Security and Accessibility: Together, these IAM components create a balanced approach that enhances security while maintaining accessibility for users. This holistic strategy supports the dynamic access needs of modern workplaces, especially as remote and hybrid work models become more common. By combining robust security measures with ease of access, IAM can support organizational productivity without compromising on protection.

Protect your IAM implementation

IAM is part of the organization’s broader IT environment and cybersecurity architecture. For that reason, implementation must be integrated with other systems and solutions, including an identity security solution and Zero Trust architecture.

Active Directory security

One of the most critical aspects of IAM implementation is Active Directory security. Active Directory security is uniquely important in a business’s overall security posture because the organization’s Active Directory controls all system access. Effective Active Directory management helps protect your business’s credentials, applications, and confidential data from unauthorized access. It’s important to have strong security to prevent malicious users from breaching your network and causing damage.

The best way to monitor for compromises in your Active Directory is to use an event log monitoring system. By monitoring the activity in these logs, organizations can catch compromises before more damage occurs.

When monitoring your event logs, look for signs of suspicious activity, including the following events:

• Privileged account activity: Attackers commonly exploit a privilege vulnerability and attempt privilege escalation, increasing the privileges of a compromised user account. Alternatively, you might notice after-hours activity on a privileged user account or a sudden increase in the amount of data accessed by the user account.
• Login failures: Repeated failures to log in to an account can be a sign that a threat actor is trying to gain access.
• Remote logins: Malicious users often attempt to access your system remotely. If you notice a login from an IP address in a different country or locale, it could be a sign that your Active Directory is compromised.

IAM use cases

IAM is essential for securing organizational resources while supporting operational efficiency. Implementing IAM effectively requires understanding its practical applications across various business scenarios and the best practices that maximize its effectiveness. Below are some key use cases where IAM enhances security and access. 

• Secure Remote Access: As remote and hybrid work models grow, IAM enables secure access to resources from any location, using MFA and SSO to protect data and minimize unauthorized access.
• Cloud Application Access: IAM facilitates consistent access control for cloud applications, allowing organizations to enforce role-based permissions and secure sensitive cloud-stored data effectively across platforms.
• PAM: For high-level roles like IT administrators, IAM implements PAM to monitor and control privileged accounts, limiting potential risks associated with elevated permissions.
• Regulatory Compliance Support: IAM aids compliance by offering audit trails and monitoring access according to regulatory standards, helping to ensure adherence to the GDPR, HIPAA, and other requirements.
• Automated Onboarding and Offboarding: IAM automates the process of granting and revoking access as employees join or leave, ensuring access remains up to date and minimizing risks associated with outdated permissions.

IAM implementation

Basic IAM implementation steps include the following:

• Establish the core set of objectives for the IAM solution
• Audit existing and legacy systems to identify gaps within the existing architecture
• Identify core stakeholders to help with identity mapping and defining user access rules
• Capture all user groups; include as much granularity as necessary
• Identify all user access scenarios and define corresponding rules; take into account cloud assets and how access within the cloud environment differs from on-premises access
• Consider integration points with other security systems or protocols, including Zero Trust solutions or identity security systems

IAM and compliance

In today’s data-driven landscape, AM plays a critical role in helping organizations meet regulatory standards that protect user data and ensure privacy. IAM solutions are essential for compliance with data protection laws and regulations such as the GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS, which mandate strict controls over who can access sensitive information. Through centralized access control, IAM enables organizations to enforce policies such as least-privilege access and MFA, reducing unauthorized access risks. Identity governance tools within IAM also support compliance by providing audit trails, activity monitoring, and access reports, allowing organizations to document and demonstrate adherence to regulatory requirements. By integrating IAM solutions with compliance processes, organizations can reduce their risk of fines, strengthen data protection, and build trust with customers.

The future of IAM

Modern identity-driven attacks often bypass the traditional cyber kill chain by directly leveraging compromised credentials to accomplish lateral movements and launch bigger, more catastrophic attacks.

These attacks — coupled with the rapid expansion of a digital workforce — underscore the need for organizations to activate a strong, flexible identity security solution that includes IAM. Taken together, these solutions are intended to stop adversaries that have managed to circumvent other security measures, such as endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools.

Shrink the identity attack surface with CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection

Identity is not only the most important element in Zero Trust — identity is the new perimeter. CrowdStrike Falcon® Identity Protection wraps security around every identity, whether it’s on-premises or in the cloud.

Falcon Identity Protection, part of the CrowdStrike Falcon® platform, is built around a continuous risk scoring engine that analyzes security indicators present in authentication traffic in real time. Adhering to Zero Trust principles, the risk scores are developed inside out — around user roles, user-defined authentication policies, and identity stores — instead of being developed from the traditional outside-in sources.