Feb 16, 2023
Feb 16, 2023
4 min
Leveraging identity as the key control point can enable security services to work together and deliver and improve the security posture while maintaining agility to adapt to evolving needs.
Cybersecurity is complex and ever changing, and the last few years have demonstrated the need for CISOs to build agile, composable security architectures that can evolve and adapt to trends in how (and where) people work, where data is stored, and protecting against the latest cyberattacks. Companies now spend over $172 billion annually according to Gartner with over 3,500 vendors, who each offer multiple products. Most companies have built their security around a portfolio of specialized point products that operate in silos and protect in a reactive manner to the constantly evolving threat landscape. A cybersecurity mesh architecture (CSMA) leveraging identity as the key control point can enable security services to work together and deliver and improve the security posture while maintaining agility to adapt to evolving needs.
The cybersecurity mesh architecture is a security model that aims to provide more flexible, distributed, and scalable protection against cyber threats. It is based on the idea of creating a network of interconnected security components that can adapt to changing threat landscapes and protect different endpoints, users, and devices in a more cohesive way. The concept was developed by Gartner to help companies understand how to adapt their security strategies to a world of distributed assets where the infrastructure is often under somebody else’s control.
Identity security is an important component of the cybersecurity mesh architecture because in a world where data is everywhere and accessed from anywhere using almost any device, identity is the only control point a company always has. Identity control helps ensure that only authorized users can access information, systems, and applications regardless of the device being used. By using identity-based access controls that cover sanctioned and business-led SaaS, organizations can more effectively manage their risk.
Identity security can also help organizations detect and respond to security incidents more quickly and effectively. By using identity-based monitoring and analytics tools, security teams can more easily track user activity and identify potential threats or suspicious behavior. Overall, identity security is an important aspect of the cybersecurity mesh architecture because it helps organizations build a more comprehensive and effective security strategy that can adapt to evolving threats and protect against a wide range of cyber-attacks.
CSMA unifies identity security silos by creating a cohesive network of interconnected security components that can communicate and share information with each other. This enables identity information to be more easily and consistently managed across the organization, regardless of where it resides.
For example, in a traditional security model, identity and access controls may be managed by separate applications that are not integrated, resulting in fragmented identity silos. However, in a cybersecurity mesh architecture, a centralized identity and access management (IAM) system is used to manage user identities, permissions, and policies for everything or to at least to provide the visibility of these things across all the disparate systems.
This centralized IAM system can then communicate with other security systems, such as security operations automation and response systems, network security systems, and security analytics tools, to ensure that the appropriate identity-based access controls are in place for each user’s access. By unifying identity security silos in this way, the cybersecurity mesh architecture can help organizations gain a complete understanding of their identity risk and remediate any incidents quickly. This creates a more cohesive and comprehensive security strategy identity security to serve as the foundation for a CSMA strategy.
The Grip SaaS Security Control Plane (SSCP) helps companies implement a cybersecurity mesh architecture by providing a platform for centrally managing identity security policies, controls, and analytics across the entire company. It achieves this by creating an identity security fabric that centralizes the administration of identity controls, analytics, and operations with decentralized policy enforcement. It unifies fragmented security controls that operate in silos to deliver a holistic view of identity risk and all the applications being used in the company.
The identity security fabric is built on an identity policy control and enforcement layer where all policies are set. This works with a discovery layer, which discovers identities and their associated applications. A monitoring layer calculates a real time risk assessment for identities and applications that is dynamic and changes depending on the risk factors that are customized for each company. The SSCP performs these functions and integrates with other security and IT systems to provide a complete view of identity risk in a single, consolidated dashboard.
Security teams work from a centralized policy control and enforcement dashboard that allows them to define a set of automated workflows that secure identities with just a few clicks. The integrations to other systems expand the orchestration capabilities beyond identity security systems to endpoints, data, or users. The product installs in 10 minutes, and security teams can see an immediate ROI from day one.
The acceleration in the adoption of SaaS as well as the way people work has been particularly challenging because changes occurred so quickly. Unlike a few years ago, people now work from anywhere, using multiple devices, and software (due to the proliferation of SaaS) is self-provisioned, oftentimes without the involvement or governance of IT or security. The industry has reached a point where companies now need to get their products to work as an ecosystem rather than as a collection of silos to achieve the next level of enterprise security effectiveness. The Grip SSCP provides the foundation to achieve this objective.
To learn more about how the Grip SSCP can help implement a CSMA framework, contact us to learn more or sign up for personalized demonstration.
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