The Gartner Identity and Access Management (IAM) Summit is an annual event that brings together IAM professionals to share their insights,
knowledge, and best practices in the rapidly evolving field of IAM. This
year, the summit provided a unique opportunity to learn about the
latest trends and innovations in IAM and connect with other
professionals and vendors in the field. In this blog post, we will
highlight the top four takeaways from the Gartner IAM Summit 2023 and
discuss why they are important for organizations looking to improve
their overall security strategy.
The first takeaway highlights the importance of context-aware policies for identity-first security strategies. Experts predict that by
2026, 70% of identity-first security strategies will fail unless organizations adopt continuous and consistent context-based
access policies.
Identity + Context == The new perimeter.
As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, adopting an identity-first
security mindset is essential. This requires a continuous effort to
identify and address vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. For
instance, the SolarWinds attack highlighted the importance of
re-authenticating users before allowing them to register a new phone as a
multifactor authentication device.
However, implementing context-aware policies presents challenges, including the use of different languages across different security
tools. To address this, new standards such as Open Policy Agent (OPPA) and Identity Query Language (IDQL) are emerging, enabling organizations to author policies for one tool and translate them to others.
Fortunately, the industry is moving towards a more comprehensive, mature, and measurable zero-trust program. It’s estimated that by 2026,
10% of large enterprises will have such a program in place, up from less
than 1% today. Nevertheless, achieving identity-first security is an
ongoing effort, and continuous reassessment of security measures is
crucial.
Adopting an identity-first security mindset, continuously assessing vulnerabilities, and adopting context-aware policies are critical in
today’s cyber landscape. With the emergence of new standards like OPPA
and IDQL, maintaining consistent and continuous security policies across
different tools and applications will become easier. As more
organizations embrace zero-trust programs, we can expect a more secure
digital future.