What is Identity Management: The Complete Guide

Managing access to your most precious, prized, or private resources is a huge task. And with a diverse ecosystem of access holders (employees, contractors, visitors), each with their risks, an identity management system you can trust is non-negotiable. 

The consequences of inadequate identity management are, at best, inconvenient. At worst, they could destroy your business. We’re talking about loss of or damage to resources, data leaks, safety risks to employees, operational disruptions, regulatory non-compliance leading to financial penalties or legal action, reputational damage, and loss of trust. 

On the other hand, an overly complex or poorly functioning system can frustrate users and damage productivity. Think of time-consuming access processes or system errors that prevent people from accessing the spaces they need to do their job.

We’re here to offer a practical understanding of identity management. We’ll explore the concept, how it works, and best practices, shining a light on how acre Security might play a part. Our actionable guide will equip you with the knowledge to evaluate and implement effective identity management strategies within your organization. However, let's start by defining its core principles.

What is Identity Management?

Picture your company’s infrastructure and network of buildings, zones, and properties. Identity management is the system that decides who gets a key (an ID badge, visitor pass, or contractor access card) and what each key can unlock (degrees of access to physical spaces, assets, or resources). It encompasses the rules, processes, and technology that enable the right people to access the right places and prevent unauthorized individuals from entering.  

This is hugely important to businesses of all kinds for a few reasons: 

• Security: To prevent unauthorized access and protect sensitive information or assets.

• Efficiency: To streamline onboarding, offboarding, and access provisioning.

• Productivity: To enable access holders to be more productive and adapt to changing needs faster, facilitating new business initiatives and collaborations.

• Compliance: To meet regulatory requirements like NIS2, CAPPS, and GDPR, particularly across distributed or regulated environments.

• User experience: To enable seamless and secure access for authorized individuals.

• Governance: To establish and maintain accountability of access activities.

Inaction costs businesses dearly. The financial damage of a security breach can run into the millions, and the reputational damage is unquantifiable.

How Identity Management Works

Identity management systems organize and automate the process of allowing and removing access to resources on a user-by-user basis. There are several crucial elements to an identity management system that would enable this to happen: 

• Digital identities: Digital files that are created and registered in the system listing information such as name, job title, and department. 
• Authentication: When you attempt to access a space, you will need to verify your identity. Typical methods of authentication that we use every day include a password, a code sent to your phone, unique IDs, QR codes, NFC chips, a fingerprint, or even face recognition. It’s important to find a balance between security and ease of use.
• Authorization: Your digital ID doesn’t automatically grant access. Your key only fits specific locks. Authorization is the process by which individuals gain varying levels of access to resources and privileges.
• Auditing and monitoring: Behind the scenes, the system audits and monitors identity-related activities for security and compliance. It reviews activity regularly, flagging anomalies, errors, and non-compliance. 
• Identity governance: The policies and processes that oversee the identity management lifecycle. 

When reading about identity management, you may have encountered the term' access management.' This is the part of the system that controls the doors, including the locks and the system that verifies your key. Identity management is the bigger picture: creating the keys, deciding who gets them, and taking them away when they are no longer needed. 

When identity management works well, all access holders – whether long-term employees or contractors – can quickly access the resources they need to be efficient and productive. The risk of breaches or unauthorized access is significantly reduced, and the organization remains compliant.

Main Components of Good Identity Management Systems

A sound identity management system comprises several components that work together to maintain security. You want a provider that offers the following:

Automated user identity lifecycle

Just as people join, move around, and leave a company, digital IDs also change. This includes provisioning new IDs, keeping physical credentials up to date as roles change, and deprovisioning when a role comes to an end. Ideally, these tasks should be automated to avoid human error.

Strong authentication methods

These are the most recommended ways to keep your assets secure:

• Multi-factor authentication: With MFA, you need more than one way to prove it's you to gain access, like your digital card and a unique PIN. This is like having two locks on the door, making it significantly harder for outsiders to gain entry.
• Biometrics: Using something unique about you, like your fingerprint or face, to access systems and locations.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and authorization

Instead of giving everyone access to everything, sound systems appoint access by role, not by individual. Different job titles, levels of authority, responsibilities, and departments within the business have different access levels. RBAC makes managing permissions easier and safer.

Advanced Identity Management Approaches.

The fundamentals tend not to change, but there’s still a constant wave of progress and innovation in identity management. A few of the more advanced ideas you might find your provider offers include:

Zero Trust security model

This is a security protocol that states identities within your company’s records shouldn’t be trusted by default. Instead, everyone and everything must be constantly checked and verified for access. Identity management is how organizations can implement Zero Trust: continually verifying who you are and what you're allowed to do before you do it.

This approach is more resource-intensive, so it’s often reserved for the most critical and sensitive spaces in a business. For organizations in high-risk industries (e.g. government, finance, and infrastructure), it can be the default approach.

At acre, we use Zero Trust models for the protection of spaces such as data centers.

Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Within any security system, some accounts possess superpowers – administrator-level roles that can modify critical settings and grant new access.

PAM concerns carefully controlling who has these superpowers, what they can do with them, and then closely monitoring their actions. Even privileged users can have their access limited, for example, by time or location. These rules are crucial for the highest-security areas of your business.

Context-Aware Access Control 

Instead of just checking who you are, Context-Aware Access Control also examines details such as your location before granting you access.

If you’ve ever tried logging into your email from a new location or machine, you will likely have received a notification warning you about the unusual login. This is a common example of Context-Aware Access Control.

The idea is that access is usually granted under certain conditions. If those conditions aren’t met, the request is highlighted for attention or outright denied. 

On-Premise vs Cloud-Based Identity Management Solutions

There are two main setups for identity management systems, as well as one that combines the two.

On-premise

You run your identity management system from your computers and systems. Companies with stringent requirements or legacy data systems will likely choose this model.

• Pro: Greater control, meaning the system can follow precise rules or integrate with the company’s existing tech.
• Con: It can be more expensive to set up and maintain.

Cloud-based

• Pro: Cheaper to get started and easier to scale and maintain.
• Con: You can’t 100% guarantee a third-party system’s uptime, security, and quality.

Hybrid

You can use a bit of both – keeping some elements on-site and using cloud services for others.

This may occur when transitioning to the cloud or if you wish to retain specific processes under your direct control.

Identity Management Best Practices

Regardless of the system you use, certain good habits are essential for keeping out bad actors and letting the right people in.

Use multi-modal authentication

For an added level of security, requiring two forms of identity is one of the best ways to protect your assets and remove low-hanging fruit from your business.

This could be biometric authentication plus a passcode, for example.

Implement the principle of least privilege.

This is another way of describing Role-Based Access Control. People should only have access to the resources they need to perform their job effectively.

If they don't need to open a specific door, giving them a key is an unnecessary security risk.

Regular access reviews and audits

A regular review and audit schedule prevents minor issues from escalating into major problems. Regularly checking who has access to what ensures that the correct permissions are still in place.

People change roles or leave the company, and their access needs to be updated. This is another reason why RBAC is valuable, as user-based controls can become outdated more easily.

Regular security awareness training

Security is an ongoing process, not a one-time solution. Even with the best technology, processes, and support in place, your business can quickly become insecure if employees don’t understand security best practices.

By training access holders to recognize and avoid threats (such as tailgating and card theft), you mitigate the weakest link in the security chain – the human element.

Why Choose Acre Security Identity Management

Local and global organizations, including DHL, Coca-Cola, and Mastercard trust acre. Our clients choose us for our all-in-one solutions, offering a single portfolio of on-premise or cloud security to keep their businesses safe.

Each solution is tailored to your needs, catering to all budgets and sizes. Our tech will integrate seamlessly with your existing stack for a cohesive and user-friendly result.  

And our protection is second-to-none. We continually add market-leading solutions from industry leaders to our ecosystem of complementary technologies. You’ll always have an agile, secure, and cutting-edge service with acre.

Learn more about our approach to access control.

A Foundation of Secure Businesses

Effective identity management is key to security and operational efficiency. We’ve explored the essential components of a robust identity management system and examined best practices and advanced approaches to safeguarding your most important assets. 

At acre, our comprehensive approach recognizes and meets the challenges you face in protecting your most important assets. By managing your physical identities, we are committed to keeping your people, processes, and locations secure.

Contact us today to streamline your security operations without sacrificing their effectiveness.