Identity and Access Management (IAM)
What is Identity and Access Management (IAM)?
Identity and Access Management (IAM)A discipline and set of technologies for defining digital identities and controlling which resources each identity may access under which conditions.
Identity and Access Management (IAM) is the framework of policies, processes and tooling that lets an organization manage the lifecycle of human and machine identities and govern their access to applications, data and infrastructure. Core capabilities include identity provisioning and deprovisioning, authentication, authorization, single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, role and entitlement management, and audit logging. IAM is the backbone of zero-trust architectures because every access decision depends on a verified identity and its associated attributes. Weak IAM is a leading cause of breaches: stale accounts, excessive privileges, and unmanaged service identities are routinely abused by attackers.
● Examples
- 01
Okta, Microsoft Entra ID and Ping Identity used as enterprise IAM platforms.
- 02
Joiner-mover-leaver workflows that automatically grant and revoke application access.
● Frequently asked questions
What is Identity and Access Management (IAM)?
A discipline and set of technologies for defining digital identities and controlling which resources each identity may access under which conditions. It belongs to the Identity & Access category of cybersecurity.
What does Identity and Access Management (IAM) mean?
A discipline and set of technologies for defining digital identities and controlling which resources each identity may access under which conditions.
How do you defend against Identity and Access Management (IAM)?
Defences for Identity and Access Management (IAM) typically combine technical controls and operational practices, as detailed in the full definition above.
What are other names for Identity and Access Management (IAM)?
Common alternative names include: IAM, Identity management.