What Is Identity and Access Management (IAM)?
IAM is an umbrella term that refers to the set of policies, technologies and processes that manage users’ identities and control their access to resources within an organization, explains Petros Efstathopoulos, vice president of research at RSAC. “IAM is crucial for ensuring secure interaction with web applications and cloud services, as it allows administrators to grant permissions to users and applications, thereby defining how these entities can interact with specific resources,” he says.
For example, IAM can be used to grant employee access to data on only certain customers, or to particular applications or files but not others.
In other words, IAM is a broad term, and a fundamental concept in security, that refers to three major tasks: identifying users, authenticating them and managing their privileges.
RELATED: How can IAM help businesses solve complex IT challenges?
How Does Multifactor Authentication Fit Within IAM?
MFA is a capability of an organization’s IAM program, says Brandon Traffanstedt, senior director for CyberArk’s global technology office. “It makes sure that users are properly authenticated in this process by enforcing the use of several controls, or factors, of proof when the user is trying to access something,” he says.
Users might be asked for a password alongside a biometric authentication, for instance, or a password and a ‘push’ to an authentication app or code on a physical device.