How to use IAM, MFA and PAM together

According to Traffanstedt, the good news for IT managers is that these security controls are complementary practices. “The best way to think about how they are implemented is from the perspective of what is valuable to your organization,” he adds.

This may be different for each business, but it generally involves protecting customer data while ensuring service availability, although organizations provide their employees with efficient access to the applications they need to work, but only to those applications.

This could also cover the complex regulatory framework of the healthcare sector. “An effective identity security strategy starts with this and extends outward to ensure the right person has the right access at the right time,” says Traffanstedt.

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Implementing IAM, MFA and PAM in modern architectures

Modern systems have commoditized many IAM functions and capabilities, primarily in the form of cloud services.

“The commoditization of IAM services, toolkits and cloud products allows organizations to design and implement a tailored system,” says Efstathopoulos.

These include readily available components that have been designed to collaborate with each other and improve usability and security. Kietzman says there are several benefits to migrating IAM, MFA, and PAM to a Software as a Service model, including reduced management and maintenance costs, increased availability and scalability, and constantly updated tools.

“However, this choice and effort will depend on a given company’s IT stack,” he adds.

Future trends in identity and access management

Efstathopoulos says a key technology trend that will impact the future of IAM is the growing use of AI and non-human agents in various industries. “The systems currently in place are primarily designed with the assumption that all agents involved are human,” he says, emphasizing that IAM primarily authenticates human identities.

However, the growing use of AI is giving rise to non-human agents capable of handling a wide range of tasks, from automated billing to chatbot-based customer support.

As the number of non-human agents involved in various business functions increases, says Efstathopoulos, “we will need to review and adjust identification, authentication, and access management strategies to accommodate these new identities.” and address additional security challenges that may arise.”