Beyond Identity Governance Administration (IGA): How Pathlock AAG Enables a Risk-Based Approach to Compliant Provisioning

In today’s dynamic application landscape, managing user access is a critical yet challenging task. Whether it’s granting access to new employees, adjusting permissions for existing ones, or revoking access for those leaving the company, each action must follow a stringent, pre-approved process. This process not only ensures that the right people have the right access at the right time but also that all actions are thoroughly documented to meet audit compliance standards. The advent of Identity Governance Administration (IGA) has significantly transformed the entire provisioning process by introducing automation. But in today’s multi-application landscape where access has become synonymous with risk you might have to go beyond IGA.

The Role of IGA Solutions in Access Provisioning

IGA solutions streamline access management through two primary mechanisms: automation and access requests.

1. Automation of Joiner-Mover-Leaver (JML) Processes: IGA solutions integrate with HR systems to automatically trigger changes in access based on employment status updates. For instance, when a new user is created in the HR system or a user’s job title changes, the IGA solution can automatically adjust their access rights accordingly. This automation ensures that the access rights are always in sync with the user’s role, thus maintaining compliance and efficiency.

2. Access Requests and Workflow Approvals: IGA solutions also facilitates user or manager-initiated access requests. These requests undergo a predefined approval process that aligns with audit requirements. The approvals might involve various stakeholders such as managers, access owners, or application owners, ensuring that every access change is reviewed and documented properly.

These automated processes and documented workflows help meet audit standards by ensuring timely access changes, thorough documentation, and adherence to compliance regulations.

Pathlock AAG: Bringing the Risk Perspective into Provisioning

While IGA provides a robust framework for managing user access, Pathlock’s Application Access Governance (AAG) product takes it a step further by introducing a risk management layer. This enables a comprehensive access provisioning process that not only brings in the benefits of IGA but also factors in the potential risk of granting access.

• Fine-Grained Risk Identification: Traditional IGA solutions typically, if at all, identify risks at a coarse-grained level, such as at the role level. This can often result in false positives, where perceived risks are not actual threats. AAG, on the other hand, allows for fine-grained risk assessments. It examines access at a more granular level, including custom security permissions, ensuring that the identified risks are accurate and relevant.
  
• Preventative Risk Management: Pathlock AAG enables organizations to proactively address risk exposure before access is provisioned. By integrating fine-grained risk checks into the provisioning process, businesses can see the potential risks associated with granting specific access permissions upfront. This pre-emptive approach allows organizations to either remediate or mitigate risks before they materialize, ensuring that no net new, unidentified risk is introduced into the application landscape without controls in place.
  
• Continuous Risk Monitoring: With AAG, risk management doesn’t stop once access is granted. It provides ongoing monitoring and mitigation of risks throughout the entire period a user has access. Marrying the identification and monitoring of risks with active usage supports organizational governance goals, maintaining a secure and compliant access environment.

Achieving Compliance and Risk Reduction

Combining IGA’s automated, documented workflows features with detailed risk management capabilities, Pathlock AAG offers a powerful solution for access provisioning. This integrated approach ensures that:

• Timely Access Changes: Automated triggers and approval workflows ensure that access changes happen promptly and within the required timeframes.
• Thorough Documentation: Every step in the access provisioning process is documented, providing a clear audit trail.
• Accurate Risk Management: Fine-grained risk assessments, usage reporting and continuous monitoring prevent unnecessary risk exposure and ensure that all risks are managed proactively.

Go Beyond IGA with Pathlock

A traditional IGA solution provides the necessary framework for automating and documenting access provisioning processes. Pathlock AAG, while providing all the features of an IGA solution, also goes beyond this framework by incorporating a comprehensive risk perspective. By doing so, organizations can ensure not only compliance with audit standards but also a proactive approach to managing and mitigating risks.

This dual-layered strategy ensures that access is granted in a secure, efficient, and compliant manner, safeguarding the organization’s assets and information. This enables businesses to transform access provisioning from just a procedural task to a strategic component of their risk management and compliance efforts.

Get in touch with us today to learn how Pathlock’s Zero Risk approach can enhance your IGA initiatives.