Only 53% of Security Pros Have Ownership of Workforce IAM

At the core of many data breaches are compromised credentials. Over the past 10 years, companies have invested billions in security tools and identity access management (IAM) technology to secure them. However, many security teams lack power to mitigate identity risks.

A new survey of 511 IT security professionals, conducted by Dimensional Research and commissioned by the Identity Defined Security Alliance, found 52% of respondents saw a fivefold increase in identities over the past decade. The rise is primarily driven by technological changes including mobile devices (76%), enterprise connected devices (60%), and cloud apps (59%). Workforce growth (57%) and an increase in employees using tech (66%) have also contributed.

Security teams are increasingly worried about a range of identity-related attacks. Phishing (83%) was the most common concern, followed by social engineering (70%) and compromise of privileged identities (64%). All respondents say a lack of strong IAM policies introduces risk.

Despite the growth of identities and concern for their security, only 53% of respondents report security has any level of ownership for workforce IAM. While 99% say security is involved with IAM activities, only 24% say the security team has "excellent" awareness of IAM. They attribute this to lack of goal alignment between security and the organization (33%), reporting structure (30%), history of security not being involved (30%), and resistance from other teams (24%). Budget ownership (40%) is the top reason for companies holding back on IAM investment.

Read more details in the full report here.

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