Identity as a Service Audit Implications and Best Practices

Identity as a Service (IDaaS) is a cloud-based identity management and authentication service that offers organizations a secure and effective way to manage and regulate user identities for access to data, 服务, 和应用程序. 它主要有助于确定:

• if the user is allowed and authorized to log on to an IT workload;
• if the user has been assigned to the specific role on a least privilege basis;
• and a log of activities to track any compromise or abuse.

A few benefits that IDaaS can offer to organizations include enhanced security, 简化的合规, 高效的用户管理. 对于在今天的工业4中运作的组织.0—which stands for the integration of systems encompassing automation, robotic control and big data analytics—IDaaS is especially critical. 然而, IDaaS的使用也会对审计产生影响, and it’s important that organizations follow best practices to ensure that they are successfully managing the risks connected with IDaaS.

IDaaS对审计的影响

The adoption of IDaaS will potentially have significant implications for audit, as it changes the way that organizations manage user identities and access their applications and IT workloads.

传统上, user identities and access management have been managed using on-premises solutions, 哪些是审计师通常审计的. 然而, 采用了IDaaS, user identities and access management are now managed in the cloud, 或者混合解决方案, which can create new risks and challenges for audit – the primary challenge being that auditors will now have to additionally validate that the organization has proper controls in place to manage the risks associated with IDaaS.

Auditors will need to evaluate whether the organization has implemented proper authentication and access controls on all applications collectively, as the cloud-based IDaaS may not be compatible and integrated with the on-prem applications. Also, they may not have a lot of the advanced features of legacy IAM tools like self-servicing, etc.

Another aspect to be cognizant of is that the credentials are no longer behind the corporate firewall network and thus are exposed to the internet. This comes along with the increased focus on data privacy and security and the ton of new regulations along the lines of GDPR, CCPA and UK’s Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, 这会影响数字验证, potential implications and disclosure requirements in the event of a breach. It is t在这里fore imperative to fully understand the protection of the identities against the tolerance for security risk.

IDaaS最佳实践

In order to effectively manage the risks related to IDaaS and make sure they are satisfying their security and compliance risk profiles, organizations should implement IDaaS best practices. 以下是IDaaS的一些最佳实践:

1. Choose a reputed and experienced IDaaS solution vendor除了定价和客户支持, the organization should conduct its due diligence and select a vendor who has sufficient client references and is reliable and reputed with a good track record and sound security principle.
2. Implement key controls for identity management and authentication: SSO (single sign-on) and MFA (multi-factor authentication) are a few examples of controls that deliver added layers of protection by asking for something that the users have and something the user knows. 另外, implement logs that allow detection of security incidents promptly and leverage intelligent advanced analytic capabilities for insights on the use of access privileges.
3. 对员工进行IDaaS最佳实践培训: This will ensure that they are following all precautions required to adopt and manage the IDaaS tool, and that they are properly managing user identities and access to the applications and data. This can include training on password management, access control policies and security awareness.
4. Implement disaster recovery and business continuity plans:在任何停机或灾难的情况下, the IDaaS solution should have disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place to make certain that data and access controls are not compromised, 确保运行顺畅.

总之, IDaaS is extensively utilized because it offers organizations a wide range of benefits, 包括提高安全性, 简化的合规 高效的用户管理. 因为云技术被广泛采用, organizations are looking for robust and dynamic IAM alternatives to support and serve their heterogeneous ecosystems. 就像任何技术或服务一样, t在这里 are essential considerations to make when implementing IDaaS, and organizations shouldn’t proceed without careful consideration.

编者按: 从ISACA找到更多与审计相关的资源 在这里.