Report Finds Access Management Influence Data Breaches

The Thales 2020 Access Management Index report finds company security policies and access management influence 94 percent of global data breaches.

According to the report, forty percent of organizations believe that usernames and passwords are considered effective access management tools, even though they possess a number of hacking-related incidents.

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The username and password access management tools are weak, can be stolen, and reused. IT professionals and data protection experts believe companies not enforcing stricter access management can expect a bigger security threat by hackers.

Access Management Influence Data Breaches

The report also said about fifty-eight percent of respondents said they allow employees to log on to corporate resources using social media credentials.

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“This proliferation of targets may be why most (65%) respondents find it easy to sell the need for IT security to the board, an increase from 44% who were finding it easy 12 months ago,” said the report.

The growing security concerns over larger work-from-home schemes prompt more companies to implement plans on access management, according to Thales report.

Cloud Applications

According to the respondents, cloud applications are a top target of cyberattacks because of their vulnerability and the increasing volume of applications in use. About 59 percent of companies utilize cloud applications for business operations.

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Thales said each application should be properly secured to avoid data breaches. To achieve control over access management, organizations should implement multifactor authentication. However, only 15 percent of the total respondents said they utilize this technology.

Fifty-nine percent said their companies adopted single sign-on technology and about 86 percent believe their companies are expanding the use of multifactor authentication the following year.

Convenience

Company employees utilize personal resources such as personal smartphones and computers to access company tools and access the platform. The main reason for this is a convenience when companies cannot provide work computers.

Additionally, businesses are allowing more employees to work at home at the time of the pandemic, however, utilizing an on-premise identity access management (IAM) platform to increase security.

“In a world where the need for renewal and increasing complexity of passwords increases the risk of them being forgotten, solutions such as cloud SSO and smart SSO will become more vital for organizations,” said the report.

While cloud security authentication offers a solution to increase security, it isn’t perfect. It also presents a number of challenges for 95 percent of respondents, citing ineffective cloud management.

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