In today’s rapidly changing global regulatory environment, new technologies, environments, and threats are increasing cyber security and data privacy concerns. In the past year, regulatory bodies have taken significant steps to implement stronger compliance measures—and more than ever, they are focusing on identity-related threats.
Other notable changes include:
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its updated NIST Cybersecurity Framework, emphasizing supply chain risk management and guidelines for using AI.
- I The European Union reviewed The NIS2 Directive came into effect, extending its reach to all industries and introducing higher penalties for non-compliance.
- Data protection laws have continued to tighten around the world. In the US, updated California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) it gives consumers more data privacy rights and introduces new rules for automated decision-making systems. Meanwhile, countries such as Brazil and India have introduced laws broadly in line with the EU General Data Protection Act (GDPR) to ensure global data transfer and protection.
- As cloud adoption continues to increase, the US Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) have been launched. new certification requirements for cloud service providers (CSPs) to gain access to important government data and systems.
Zero trust is a common thread in many recent regulatory changes. This “never trust, always verify” philosophy assumes that any identity—a human user, device, machine, or application—can represent a threat and must be properly protected.
Today, any identity can be configured with thousands of permissions to access resources, data and other sensitive resources. This means that any identity can be privileged and used to launch an attack or steal confidential data—at any time. For example, think of the self that was approved and trusted five minutes ago but has just been compromised and is no longer trusted. To fully embrace trust, organizations must be able to dynamically protect identity and control access to their enterprise resources—assessing potential risks in real-time and building context into authentication mechanisms.
For many, identity security is emerging as a way to overcome common challenges, such as strict access policies, static permissions and lack of real-time threat detection and aligning their security posture with evolving compliance requirements. Identity protection tools enforce zero-standing privileges (ZSP) by removing persistent access and providing temporary, just-in-time (JIT) access based on the principle of least privilege. This reduces the attack surface by raising and revoking user privileges as needed. With identity security, organizations can navigate regulatory uncertainty and address identity-centric risks throughout the ongoing, dynamic compliance journey.
Charging a course to meet identity security compliance and research
Compliance is not only about how consumer data is stored but also how it is collected, processed, and used. In fact, compliance is no longer just about data. Regulators, auditors, and even board members are focused on resilience—assessing organizations’ ability to prevent, withstand, and recover from cyber attacks and outages. Now, compliance and security are inextricably linked, underscoring the need for an integrated strategy and a security “compass” to help organizations chart their course.
Sharpening strategic advantage
The reality is that even the most compliant organizations are breached. Savvy security leaders recognize this and no longer view compliance as a check-box activity. Instead, they view regulatory mandates as a strategic way to enforce comprehensive, risk-reducing, more important, secure and business-promoting controls and, therefore, meet compliance requirements.
A good example of this is financial institutions subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Yes, they need to have effective internal controls over financial reporting, but they also view ownership-focused controls such as privilege access management (PAM) as critical to building customer trust. By ensuring that only authorized individuals have access to special accounts and that any changes to data are tracked and audited, financial institutions can effectively demonstrate their commitment to upholding customer data integrity, protection, and trust—the foundation on which trust is built.
Anticipating regulatory waves
Today’s regulatory bodies expect effective risk management—that’s a given. However, true diligence means going beyond the basic requirements of knowing where risks exist and having plans to address them.
Since any identity can be vulnerable and exploited to attack or steal confidential data, the challenge is: How do we get the visibility and control needed to ensure that the permissions and privileges granted do not put our organization at risk?
Identity security gives organizations a unified view of who has access to what, with capabilities to find, modify, verify, and revoke access. Empowered, organizations can identify and mitigate risk before they became real threats. For example, healthcare providers facing challenges in managing the proliferation of digital identities and access rights across their disparate, interconnected systems are turning to identity management and governance (IGA) to manage compliance with HIPAA and other stringent industry regulations while demonstrating leadership in patient data. protection.
As business grows rapidly and audit requirements evolve, organizations also need to constantly monitor their progress in regulatory requirements and where there are gaps. They should be able to show the auditors and the Board what data (and related ownership) is controlled and what data (and related ownership) should be managed and controlled. Identity security allows organizations to proactively assess their controls, prioritize risk mitigation efforts in specific areas and better predict where auditors can focus next.
Building trust in the open sea of digital collaboration
Trust is very important in the digital economy. A single incident can damage a business’s reputation and relationships, as evidenced by recent high-profile breaches. In addition, crippling regulatory penalties and legal remedies can be major obstacles to future growth and evolution.
Identity security can help companies and strengthen trust by enforcing transparency and accountability while demonstrating responsible data management to meet GDPR and other major compliance laws.
Navigating the future of identity security compliance
Going smoothly on autopilot: Many companies have long struggled to manage rights and meet compliance with data privacy and cyber security regulations. Despite the increasing prevalence of intelligent automation, many continue to rely on disjointed, manual processes for on-boarding and off-boarding users and not overseeing their evolving access rights. These methods are highly inefficient and prone to errors—they hinder visibility and control, impede IT service agility, and increase risk. Proprietary security solutions can help simplify and automate complex, error-prone control processes, ensuring that all access rights are appropriately granted and continuously verified. These tools can also play a “collaborative driving” role by automatically making decisions based on contextual data about users. And when it comes to the often-dreaded reporting process, they provide in-depth analytics and testing methods to help teams easily identify potential compliance issues and streamline reporting.
Adapt to changing conditions with dynamic controls: The regulatory environment is like the ocean, constantly moving and changing and sometimes catching travelers off guard. That’s why static security measures often fail under pressure, and organizations are increasingly looking for dynamic identity security controls—for example, for authentication that can adjust requirements based on a specific situation and adapt to threats in real time.
Staying alert at sea: A continuous compliance journey requires constant monitoring (read: continuous monitoring and evidence). Limiting the scope of what to watch makes this much easier to accomplish. Proprietary security solutions help implement least privilege principles across today’s highly distributed, hybrid IT environments. Removing unnecessarily privileged accounts and high-risk access and tightly controlling what users can do in any given session can significantly reduce the attack surface—and the associated compliance burden. With a clear, unified view, organizations can catch problems early, confidently demonstrate compliance, and gain insight into strategic business decisions.
Guidance on identity security and compliance leadership: In today’s regulatory environment, the only constant is change. Organizations that are prepared to navigate murky and uncertain waters—and armed with a reliable road map—will not only survive but thrive. By embracing proprietary security as part of a zero-sum approach, organizations can fully satisfy compliance while strengthening their security posture to gain a competitive edge.
For more information on how to reduce risk with identity security, check out the “Trusting Zero Trust” web series now available on demand.
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