The more connected your business becomes, the more you may be struggling to manage user access in a simple way. From the networks employees connect through to the apps they download and the websites they visit, managing user access is more complex than ever – and the stakes are higher.
That’s why central management of user identities is critical to an efficient, secure business – it’s foundational to the work employees do every day. But what exactly is a user identity, and what’s the best way to go about managing user access company-wide?
What is identity?
An identity is you. It's an employee and the attributes of that employee in the workplace. A user identity is what connects an employee to the resources needed to get their work done.
In the workplace, that also means establishing someone’s status with the company – as an employee, contractor, etc – and what resources they should have access to, based on their role.
Essentially, an identity is used to connect someone to the right resources from the right devices at the right time, so they can work securely and efficiently.
Why identity matters
Central, secure management of user identities is instrumental to your business. Without knowing who needs access to what, or even what they already have access to, plus a lack of automation in provisioning and facilitating that user access, your business will suffer from inefficiencies that slow people down and insecurities that expose the company to a data breach. Both can impact your bottom line.
When identities and user access aren’t managed holistically, employees may be given too much access and too many privileges, exposing you to insider threats and allowing outside attacks to escalate quickly. IT lacks a single source of truth to manage identity with integrated visibility across all their users. When you can’t tie actions to individuals, you’re left without accountability – and no insight into Shadow IT across the organization. Passwords continue to plague employees and put the business at risk – especially when privileged accounts are mismanaged.
In summary, poorly managed identities can drain a business’s resources and expose the company to a data breach, while centrally controlling user access with an identity solution can improve the employee experience, boost productivity, and better safeguard the business from cyberthreats.
Finding the right identity solution
The complexity of identity challenges demands a comprehensive solution that is straightforward for IT to implement, and simple for employees to adopt and use.
The best identity solution gives IT more visibility into what users are accessing and how they’re behaving, as well as more control to ensure access is appropriate and secure. By integrating with the infrastructure a business already has in place, an identity solution should simplify day-to-day management and user provisioning.
To remove password-related obstacles, a solution that combines Single Sign-On (SSO) and Enterprise Password Management (EPM) gives users a frictionless way to access the tools they need to do their work. SSO connects employees to applications with one set of login credentials, while EPM captures, stores, and fills passwords for all form-based web logins and facilitates secure password sharing. When combined, they provide employees a passwordless work experience.
The addition of Multifactor Authentication (MFA) adds extra security by verifying a user before granting access to an account or authorizing an action. MFA eliminates the inherent weaknesses of passwords, without slowing down employees.
By unifying access and authentication together into one holistic identity solution, you’ll gain a complete view of every access point and user action. You’ll reduce the time IT spends on password resets, account lockouts, and day-to-day user management, while minimizing or eliminating the overhead of outdated, resource-intensive technologies. The savings in time, money, and resources add up – all while strengthening security organization-wide and streamlining the employee workflow.
Ready to take the next step? Learn more about how LastPass Identity can help solve your organization’s most pressing identity challenges.
