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, services, and apps. It primarily helps to determine:

• 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, simplified compliance, and efficient user management. For organizations operating in today’s Industry 4.0—which stands for the integration of systems encompassing automation, robotic control and big data analytics—IDaaS is especially critical. However, the use of IDaaS also has an impact on audits, and it’s important that organizations follow best practices to ensure that they are successfully managing the risks connected with IDaaS.

The Implications of IDaaS for Audit

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.

Traditionally, user identities and access management have been managed using on-premises solutions, which were typically audited by the auditors. However, with the adoption of IDaaS, user identities and access management are now managed in the cloud, or a hybrid solution, 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, which impacts digital verification, potential implications and disclosure requirements in the event of a breach. It is therefore imperative to fully understand the protection of the identities against the tolerance for security risk.

IDaaS Best Practices

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. The following are some best practices for IDaaS:

1. Choose a reputed and experienced IDaaS solution vendor: In addition to the pricing and customer support, 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. Additionally, implement logs that allow detection of security incidents promptly and leverage intelligent advanced analytic capabilities for insights on the use of access privileges.
3. Train employees on IDaaS best practices: 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: In case of any downtime or any disaster, the IDaaS solution should have disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place to make certain that data and access controls are not compromised, ensuring smooth operation.

In conclusion, IDaaS is extensively utilized because it offers organizations a wide range of benefits, including improved security, simplified compliance and efficient user management. Because cloud technology is so widely adopted, organizations are looking for robust and dynamic IAM alternatives to support and serve their heterogeneous ecosystems. Like with any technology or as-a-service offering, there are essential considerations to make when implementing IDaaS, and organizations shouldn’t proceed without careful consideration.

Editor’s note: Find more audit-related resources from ISACA here.