Identity management is becoming increasingly vital for securing systems -especially in hybrid work environments – and One Identity is leading the way in this space.
The move to hybrid work has delivered many benefits but also introduced new challenges for cybersecurity teams. A major concern is ensuring that individuals using workplace devices are truly who they say they are and have the proper access rights. As a result, effective identity management is more critical than ever.
Elisabeth Ström Gullberg (VP of EMEA sales) from the identity security management specialist, One Identity, says that the focus on identity security has grown post-pandemic.
“Before COVID, people came into the office, sat behind their desks, the data centre was in the basement and it was all about protecting their IT,” she says. “But there has been this shift to remote working and people have adapted to accessing their systems from various locations. As a result, security needs to be more identity-centric.
“One of the key drivers is that you need to be able to verify that you are the person you say you are and that you have permission to access the systems that you’re logging into. That shift has driven the need for identity-centric security. And nowadays, it’s not just employees within organisations leveraging these systems. We’re also dealing with customers and partners accessing the system too, contributing towards an ever-expanding threat landscape.
“In addition to this, there are non-human identities as well. Machines are also accessing systems, and in turn, must be controlled, verified and treated as separate identities too.”
Increasing threats
Elisabeth explains that organisations are undergoing an ongoing shift from on-premise systems to the cloud, often involving multiple cloud providers. This transition is fuelling increased demand.
“If you have multiple clouds, and some legacy system on-prem, you need to have a manageable way to control what is happening with that data and who is accessing it,” she says.
The rise of AI is impacting identity management by shaping both its protective measures and the threats it faces. “We have been using predictive AI in our solutions for some time, typically machine learning and user behaviour analytics. These are technologies that we have built into our solution that can help us to cover much more,” says Elisabeth. “But the bad guys are using generative AI, including things like deep fakes and other forms of identity impersonation, which are harder to detect, as well as increasing the frequency of the attacks. This is a massive threat!
“Most companies are aware they need to have an identity solution in place, even though they may not be familiar with the solutions available. The drivers for the SMB market, such as regulatory compliance, are similar to the enterprise market. There are business altering regulations coming into effect soon such as Dora and NIS2 that they need to comply with and these are putting pressure on the SMB market.”
The Partner Network
In addition, One Identity is looking to expand its Partner network. “We operate in a growing market and are eager to collaborate with new partners to identify opportunities and support them throughout the sales process,” says Elisabeth. “We can help partners to bring identity security to their customers, while ensuring they have as much support as they need, depending on how mature a partner is.
“As part of our Partner Circle programme, we offer sales training in collaboration with Exclusive Networks, as well as technical training programmes.
“We listen to our partners and work closely with them, as we’re always looking to evolve and strengthen our partner community. For us, Partners are essential to everything we do, therefore we strive to give them the best experience when they work with us.”
Working with Exclusive Networks means that they can connect with implementation partners and resellers to deliver a full solution to customers.
Elisabeth adds that One Identity has an extensive, experienced team in the UK dedicated to supporting partners.
The future
With identity management needs expected to continue to grow significantly, One Identity is best placed to meet this demand with their evolving services. One Identity are developing their services to cope with changing demands.
“We are continuing to build The One Identity Fabric, and within the next 12 months, we will also have a complete multi-tenant SaaS framework, which means that everything will be based on the same platform,” says Elisabeth. “This is, again, to offer an easy to use and cost-efficient solution to customers, especially SMBs, that’s really what we are focusing on.
“Naturally, we’ll keep enhancing our AI capabilities, as they’re core to our strategy and integral to every pillar we specialise in”.
