What are the most important metrics to track when evaluating IAM policies and standards?

The number of dormant accounts that are hanging around that could be leveraged in an attack. Time to onboard Time to remove access

Making sure everything flows smoothly for users and keeps things secure is at the heart of identity and access management (IAM). It's not just about security; it's also about making sure users are happy and things run seamlessly. To figure out how well IAM policies and standards are working, we need to hear from users—through surveys, getting feedback, and looking at how they use the system. We want to know how easy it is for them to get what they need, how they feel about the security processes, and if they run into any issues. This way, we can keep improving IAM based on what users really want and need. It's a continuous process of making sure security and user experience go hand in hand.

Reduced Risk: Monitoring compliance helps avoid legal and regulatory penalties associated with data breaches and non-compliance. Improved Security: By proactively identifying and addressing compliance gaps, organizations can enhance their overall security posture and reduce the risk of cyberattacks. Enhanced Reputation: Maintaining a high level of compliance signifies commitment to data security and privacy, which fosters trust among customers and stakeholders.

Audit permissions granted and define a set of privileges that, when chained together, could lead to a shadow admin. These non-admin accounts that hold sensitive privileges (granting them admin-level rights) but often overlooked due to their unprivileged appearance and lack of membership in a privileged group. Shadow admin accounts typically acquire their privileges through the direct assignment of permissions, often as a result of a misunderstanding of the implications of these assignments. To mitigate the risk exposure, analyze access logs and attempt to construct chains of permissions to uncover shadow admins within the organization. Consider leveraging automated discovery scanning tools to enhance the efficiency of this process.

Decrease in unauthorized access attempts and breaches. Reduction in compromised user accounts. Limited exposure of sensitive data. Minimized financial impact of IAM-related incidents.

From a Strategic point of view, the KPIs should measure all Risk exposure every month to understand how far or behind the correct implementation of the IAM is. Tracking the progress of risk exposure would make it easier for any organization to secure its infrastructure in the Information Age.

Using AI in cloud IAM to automate user access reviews. Instead of manual efforts, AI algorithms can analyze user behavior, flag anomalies, and recommend adjustments to access levels. This not only optimizes personnel time but also enhances security by quickly responding to potential threats. Additionally, AI-driven cost analysis can help allocate resources efficiently, ensuring that cloud IAM policies remain both effective and economical. Cloud platforms are already utilizing AI in this area to a certain level.

Again, from a Strategic and Operational point of view, training and education campaigns are the way to develop the awareness of any organization's employees; by doing this, they could gain knowledge of the necessity of IAM, and those employees can implement the correct procedures. They can help any Security or ISMS team secure their IT infrastructure.

You should evaluate every improvement and prioritize for the most beneficial. To know which one is the most beneficial you can evaluate, by quantity of users impacted, and the risk of the access.

If you are not tracking these metrics against business outcomes, you are doing it wrong. Make a link between compliance and what type of business benefits that control is adding to the organization.

Alongside the KPIs, the security team or ISMS team at any organization can use a Risk Matrix, which could be their internal matrix or a global risk matrix for any global organization. However, it is okay to mix up with 3rd party risk assessment. By doing all these, any organization could achieve an optimal result to keep it safe and at the forefront of daily business.

IT buy-in and senior management buy-in is crucial, you can easily find exceptions and workarounds done by IT here and there unless they are convinced and know that they are accountable for their actions

You should consider periodic review, for simplify the access request catalog, for the users to know easily what he needs to request and why.