Information technology (IT) are businesses who operate in the hardware or software markets. As businesses who are close to technology and managing customer’s data, it’s clear their relationship with technology impacts their IAM strategy.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
IT is focused on the security benefits of Identity and Access Management, prioritizes MFA
Features and benefits of identity and access management
How IT professionals are prioritizing identity and access management (IAM) in their businesses
Securing data is a top priority:
- 77% IT
- 75% Overall Average
Our take: If anyone knows the potential risks of data loss, it’s IT. IT is likely managing large volumes of data - their own, and their customer’s especially if they are SaaS.
Upgrading IAM is a priority:
- 61% IT
- 65% Overall Average
Our take: It is surprising to see that improving IAM is less of a focus. IT may have already upgraded their IAM solutions, or perhaps is not an area they are currently evaluating.
Integrating security infrastructure is my biggest area for improving:
- 48% IT
- 57% Overall Average
Our take: IT is also less focused on integrations, which further suggests that IT’s IAM upgrade has already occurred. This is also seen in our 2019 Global Password Security Report, which found that IT is leading the pack with both MFA adoption and security posture.1
IAM could improve employee efficiency:
- 47% IT
- 57% Overall Average
Our take: Over the next year, we can expect IT to place their efforts on improving security with IAM as they are focused less strongly on the productivity benefits. This focus will also help IT address their priority of securing data.
The security of our IAM solutions is a challenge:
- 43% IT
- 40% Overall Average
Our take: Employee productivity as less of a focus for IT makes sense, given the main challenge they face is security. Data breaches exposed 4.1 billion records in the first half of 20192 , and as IT manages more amounts of customer data, maintaining control over every access point becomes increasingly complex.
IAM should be a higher priority for my organization:
- 48% IT
- 44% Overall Average
Our take: However, IT is aware that IAM needs to be a higher priority. Every employee has access to 17 million files³ on average, and when IT is managing customer data as well, this number not only grows but so does the need for tighter controls.
I’m planning to invest in MFA:
- 28% IT
- 19% Overall Average
Our take: We can expect to see IT focus on MFA over the coming year, which will help achieve their security challenges because MFA helps ensure only the right employees are able to access sensitive data.
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Sources:
- Global Password Security Report
- Data Breach QuickView Report
- Data Risk Report
- LastPass survey data
LastPass Recommendations for IT:
Prioritize ease of use for employees
With a baseline IAM strategy already in place, now is the time for IT to focus on employee behavior to increase adoption, and ultimately company security.
Evaluate whether their IAM approach is holistic
IT should evaluate whether their current IAM program covers all aspects of the employee lifecycle and every access point in the business.
Upgrade to adaptive MFA
Adaptive MFA adds increased friction for abnormal login attempts, all while enabling employees to seamlessly authenticate. This will give IT more trust in user’s behavior, without getting in the way of their work.
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