How do identity and access management strategies vary?

The findings reveal that IAM priorities differ by industry vertical, emphasising how a one-size-fits-all approach to IAM doesn’t work when every industry and business within that industry is unique.

Each industry vertical has unique business needs, and as a result has different areas of focus when it comes to their IAM programme. Key findings from the report include:

Finance is focused on reducing risk

Financial service organisations deal with higher stakes than most verticals, which inevitably impacts how they manage employee access and authentication. Thirty-five percent of IT professionals in this industry say hackers have gained access to their organisations in the past, which is not surprising given financial institutions experience the highest cyber crime costs out of all verticals at an average of $18.3 million per year.

According to the report, 70% of IT professionals in the finance industry say that reducing risk is a top priority and 65% state that integrating security infrastructure is their biggest area for improvement.

IT prioritises multifactor authentication

As information technology businesses are close to IAM software and managing customer’s data, it’s clear their relationship with technology impacts their IAM strategy. Seventy-seven percent in this industry say securing data is their top priority, while improving identity and access management is less of a focus with 61% noting that as a priority.

Twenty-eight percent of IT and security professionals in this industry said they are planning to invest in multifactor authentication (MFA) solutions which will help address their security challenges because MFA helps ensure only the right employees are able to access sensitive data.

Media needs a secure, automated way to manage user access

Mass communication companies work with an array of external consultants to execute their programmes, which leads to a wide array of users, both internally and externally, accessing business resources which complicates IAM.

Thirty-four percent of IT professionals in this industry say managing user access is important to their organisation, compared to the overall average of all industries (nine percent). Forty-four percent say end users are demanding an easier to use solution and 49% say automating IAM processes is an area for improvement.

“Finance is focused on reducing risk and integrations, IT is prioritising the security components of IAM, whereas media is focused on improving employee productivity,” said John Bennett, General Manager, Identity and Access Management Business Unit at LogMeIn. “It’s clear that flexibility, breadth of functionality and ease of use are critical so businesses can customise their IAM strategy in alignment with their business objectives. Organisations need to evaluate what their business needs are and build their IAM strategy based on those requirements.”