Managing Identity Sprawl at Organizations
Your company faces big risks if your employees are using multiple usernames and passwords to access computers, websites and platforms. This situation creates the condition of identity sprawl. It occurs when users maintain multiple identities to access different systems. Both single and multiple identity situations create risks for organizations. An identity sprawl puts enterprises at risks of attacks based on identity.
The Challenge
The problem of identity sprawl is not new. As more people work remotely or in a hybrid model, the scope of using multiple identities to access devices and applications increases manifold. A survey in 2021 found 84% respondents had more than two digital identities. Administrators have generally used active directory system to manage multiple usernames and passwords when dealing with the desktops. However, now employees use multiple devices at the same time. They have multiple usernames and passwords to access different systems and applications. Many of these applications have become necessary for working remotely. While they offer the benefit of working remotely, it has created a situation where it is difficult for the employers to manage so many identities of one person.
The cloud-based programs and services have only exacerbated the problem. Many apps from the same company require their users to maintain separate identities. Additionally, each company has its own way of provisioning systems and processes for identity management. Multiple identity management systems slow down user provisioning, create ghost accounts, reduce access speed, create inconsistency in user privileges, and make it difficult to enforce compliance and security policies.
Managing the Identity Sprawl
It can be managed by adopting a unified identity management approach. This problem cannot be solved by a single onsite or online service. Companies still use multiple systems to manage multiple identities of their users. One option is to consolidate and centralize different identities at one place.
Consolidating Different Identities
Any removal of present identity management setups should be done only after reviewing the newly implemented setup. It can be expensive to remove multifactor authentication like features at one go. Administrators and users not used to working without such systems can face problems. They should first become familiar with the new tool before the old ones are discarded.
One solution is to use a platform that helps combine multiple identities at one place and then use a single identity to access all those identities. The users retain their multiple identities but every time they want to access a system, they use their common login key provided by this platform.
Many vendors have come up with different solutions to help users and organizations manage multiple identities. It prevents loss of time and resources in managing, using and identifying different identities. For more information, please write to us at info@trueid.in
