IAM 101

Startup / Small — Post S2 (IGA) Focus: Building lightweight governance habits—reviews, documentation, and accountability—without enterprise IGA tools. Previous: Post S1 covered IAM setup (MFA, JML, SSO, and offboarding). TL;DR Startups don’t need full-blown IGA systems to practice governance. You just need a repeatable rhythm—review who has access, record it, and act on changes. With nothing more than spreadsheets, automation tools, and discipline, you can meet audit, investor, or SOC 2 expectations while staying lightweight and affordable....

Startup / Small — Post S1 (IAM) Focus: Building a secure identity foundation with no-cost or low-cost tools that get you to MFA, SSO, clean offboarding, and simple automation without breaking the bank. Next: Post S2 covers lightweight governance (IGA) with the same pragmatic mindset. TL;DR You don’t need a six-figure budget to build a strong identity backbone. You need a few free or affordable tools, a little discipline, and a simple offboarding workflow that always works....

TL;DR You don’t need a twelve-month program to stop the most common identity breaches. In 30 days, you can close the biggest gaps: Purge orphaned accounts Process leavers the same day Rotate & vault NHI (non-human identity) passwords/keys Enforce MFA everywhere; phishing-resistant for admins Disable legacy/basic auth + app passwords Kill standing admin; adopt least privilege + JIT elevation Put critical apps behind SSO; disable local logins Run a high-risk access review sprint Establish a Conditional Access baseline (device/risk/location) Turn on identity logging & alerts; harden break-glass Below is a day-by-day plan with owners, acceptance criteria, checkpoints, and metrics....

Introduction: The End of the Password Era Imagine this: an employee’s corporate laptop is stolen from a café. Instead of panicking about whether the thief will guess the password, IT breathes easy—because the device uses passwordless authentication tied to the user’s biometric and hardware token. The attacker has nothing to exploit. This isn’t a futuristic scenario. Enterprises are already shifting toward passwordless authentication, not just for convenience but to protect against the relentless tide of credential theft....

Introduction: Why Zero Trust, Why Now? In 2023, attackers breached a major global financial services company by compromising a single VPN account. That one set of stolen credentials gave them access deep into the network, exposing millions of customer records. The organization had spent millions hardening its perimeter firewalls—but once the attacker got inside, there were few controls to stop them. This is the reality of today’s threat landscape: the perimeter is porous, and identity is the true control point....

#The Future of IAM: AI & Automation TL;DR Identity and Access Management (IAM) is evolving fast. AI and automation are moving IAM from static, rules-based controls to adaptive, intelligence-driven systems. Machine learning powers real-time anomaly detection, behavior-based authentication reduces reliance on passwords, and identity orchestration unifies workflows across multi-cloud and legacy systems. But with innovation comes new risks: AI agents, machine identities, and autonomous threats demand fresh governance and continuous monitoring....

Delegated Admin & Just-In-Time Access: Reducing Standing Privileges TL;DR Standing (always-on) admin privileges are a top target for attackers—and a pain point for compliance. By shifting to delegated admin roles and “just-in-time” access, organizations reduce risk, limit attack surfaces, and enforce true least privilege in practice. This post unpacks how to design and run these controls, practical pitfalls, and the benefits for audit, security, and business agility. Why Standing Privileges Are a Problem Standing privilege means an account (often admin) always has elevated rights, even when not in use....

#IAM in the Cloud & SaaS Era: Tackling Shadow IT, API Sprawl, and Access Chaos TL;DR As enterprises shift further into cloud and SaaS ecosystems, identity and access management (IAM) becomes a tangled web of apps, permissions, and overlooked risks. This post outlines the top threats—like Shadow IT and API sprawl—and offers strategies to maintain control. The Identity Challenge in a Cloud-First World Modern enterprises are no longer running a single stack—they’re running hundreds....

IAM 101: The IAM Backbone – A Unified and Secure Foundation TL;DR Directories and identity federation are the backbone of any modern IAM program. They serve as the new security perimeter, enable Zero Trust, and automate lifecycle management. Misconfigurations here can undermine your entire security posture. Background: The Shift to Identity as the New Perimeter Not long ago, enterprise security meant big firewalls and locked-down networks. Today, those barriers are porous—thanks to remote work, SaaS, and hybrid environments....

Access Reviews & Certifications: Why and How Everything you need to know about periodic reviews, compliance value, and common traps to avoid TL;DR Access reviews and certifications are your IAM safety net. Done right, they ensure that users have only the access they need—no more, no less. In this post, we’ll explain the what, why, and how, along with real-world examples and common mistakes to avoid. What Are Access Reviews?...