How can you address common IAM risks during an audit?

1 Define your scope and objectives

The first step in any IAM audit is to define your scope and objectives, based on your business needs, regulatory requirements, and risk appetite. You should consider what aspects of your IAM system you want to evaluate, such as user identities, access rights, roles, permissions, authentication methods, authorization mechanisms, audit logs, and reports. You should also establish your criteria and standards for measuring your IAM performance, such as industry best practices, frameworks, or benchmarks. By defining your scope and objectives clearly, you can focus your audit efforts on the most relevant and impactful areas and avoid wasting time and resources on irrelevant or redundant tasks.

2 Assess your current state and maturity

The next step in your IAM audit is to assess your current state and maturity, by collecting and analyzing data from various sources, such as interviews, surveys, documents, configurations, records, and tests. You should compare your current IAM practices and outcomes with your predefined criteria and standards, and identify any gaps or deviations. You should also evaluate your IAM maturity level, using a model such as the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), which ranges from initial (lowest) to optimized (highest). By assessing your current state and maturity, you can gain a clear understanding of your IAM strengths and weaknesses, and prioritize your improvement actions accordingly.

3 Identify and prioritize your risks

The third step in your IAM audit is to identify and prioritize your risks, by applying a risk management methodology, such as the ISO 31000 standard. You should consider the likelihood and impact of various IAM threats and vulnerabilities, such as identity theft, privilege escalation, access abuse, data leakage, configuration errors, policy violations, and human errors. You should also consider the potential consequences of these risks, such as financial losses, reputational damage, legal penalties, and operational disruptions. By identifying and prioritizing your risks, you can determine which ones require immediate attention and which ones can be deferred or accepted.

6 Follow up and improve your IAM

The sixth and final step in your IAM audit is to follow up and improve your IAM, by implementing and evaluating your improvement actions, and updating and refining your IAM policies, processes, and controls accordingly. You should assign roles and responsibilities for your improvement actions, and establish timelines and milestones for their completion. You should also measure and monitor the outcomes and impacts of your improvement actions, and compare them with your baseline and targets. By following up and improving your IAM, you can ensure that your IAM audit is not a one-time event, but a continuous cycle of learning and enhancement.