Beyond Compliance: 5 Ways AI Supports Proactive Identity Governance

Every segment of the software industry is inundated with products hyping their use of artificial intelligence (AI), and identity governance and administration (IGA) is no exception. The challenge, of course, is separating the hype from the reality – and the reality is that most AI in the IGA market doesn’t do a whole lot.

Compliance is a case in point. Today’s enterprises need to demonstrate that the right individuals have the right access to the right applications. IGA solutions provide laundry lists of who has access to what, and they can use AI to auto-approve anything that looks right and flag for review anything that looks amiss.

This is a valuable timesaver. Instead of poring over thousands of access requests, managers review a fraction of that – say, only the Level 1 Account Managers who have Level 2 access. Access reviews are done faster, enterprises can demonstrate that they’ve met the requirements of SOX and HITRUST, and auditors are satisfied.

Here, AI has met a critical business need – and it’s a need that Clear Skye addresses. But there’s so much more that can be done.

Why better data means better AI – and why that powers proactive governance

The average IGA solution can spot a user who has too much access or should have duties segregated. But it can’t provide insight into potential vulnerabilities associated with access, whether it’s outdated policies or unknown security threats.

That’s because AI is only as strong as the signals that it receives. A siloed IGA solution doesn’t provide access to valuable Security Operations (SecOps) or Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) information. The most robust algorithms in the world can’t make up for a limited view of the world.

By running natively on the ServiceNow Now Platform, Clear Skye IGA has a much wider view of identity and access in the context of all enterprise systems. AI is much more powerful and can be applied to many more use cases. Not only does this make IGA smarter and more efficient, it improves SecOps, GRC, and Incident Management processes as well.

Here are five examples:

• IGA can verify active GRC controls during access review and workflow approval and see which policies may conflict with an approval.
• IGA can correlate access requests with known security incidents or vulnerabilities present on a requester’s machine.
• IGA can correlate access requests with change control items. This ensures that access changes are not made in advance of system changes that would render the access change irrelevant.
• SecOps gains visibility into and one-click management of permissions in the event that a user’s machine is compromised. This enables for immediate suspension of all account permissions – and stops a breach from spreading to other machines.
• GRC can automate the collection of proof that users are adhering to control policies and determine whether further analysis is necessary for auditing purposes.

The overarching benefit of these five examples is that it enables enterprises to take a proactive approach to identity governance. Instead of rushing from one fire to another, teams can leverage the vast data sets they already have to make informed decisions and take action to prevent the fire in the first place.

But you need data in order to be proactive. Siloed IGA solutions don’t have it. Clear Skye IGA does. And that makes a world of difference.

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