Information Overload

Having too many security systems functioning in isolation and never “talking” to one another accomplishes very little as a whole. It will create “alert overload” where the influx of notifications from systems are usually disregarded (or turned off). This situation creates a poor user experience (UX) for admins and end users alike. Poor administrative experiences delay deployments, increase the time to resolve support tickets, and result in admins repeating processes from siloed locations. This is especially true in identity and access management as well as user onboarding.

Too Much to Support

Security risks spawn from having too many things to support, which invariably delays patching. Your team only has so many hours in the day and apps that are core to a department may only present small windows of opportunity to upgrade or take offline for maintenance. Many zero-day attacks occur when organizations fail to keep up with the pace of change and patch management controls. It may not seem like it’s a big deal, but patching is a critical activity.

Increased Cyberattack Surface Area

More stuff isn’t always better, and sometimes it can even be worse. Apps that have entitlements in core infrastructure and servers running on your network all serve to increase the footprinting activity for exploits that an attacker will conduct if he/she gains access within your perimeter. Also consider that many applications (not limited to security) are also siloed and aren’t fully integrated with your security controls nor visible to monitoring.

Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report uncovered that credential risks were the leading cause of unauthorized access of IT resources in your estate. Applications that exist outside of a universal IAM system, with Zero Trust security controls that interrogate users to prove they are who they are, place data and users at risk. Never underestimate the potential for human fallibility, or the effectiveness of techniques hackers use to obtain credentials. JumpCloud’s 2022 IT Trends Report found that the three biggest concerns involving security are software vulnerability exploits, password reuse, and unsecured network usage. Problems amplify when apps stray beyond your core stacks, asset auditing, and security controls.

Supply Chain Risks

Third-party components aren’t under your control. This problem received greater attention following several high-profile breaches. The Log4Shell vulnerability affected Apache’s Log4j and hundreds of downstream applications from vendors large and small, leading to a rush to patch and mass confusion. Every new third-party component introduces:

• A compromised supplier that becomes a force multiplier for threat actors.
• The potential for poor security and support practices.
• Poor software assurance and bad actors infiltrating source code and maintenance servers.
• Additional auditing and compliance lapses.

The Steps to Unification

There’s some upfront work involved that will pay dividends later. You’ll begin by rationalizing what you need from your tech stack and how it all can work better together once it’s unified. You’ll then be able to reduce waste and eliminate systems that aren’t serving your mission.

Identify Your Core Stack

This phase is the process when you assess your entire IT environment and determine the core platform(s) that will help you deliver the services and support you need in the most efficient way. Don’t worry… it doesn’t have to be an extensive audit, but rather a high-level review of what you need to do (and want to do), and what technologies you need to accomplish your objectives. Once you know this, you can begin to find a platform that best suits your needs.

Integrate Your Core Stack

Next, incorporate your new core stack into areas where there are unmet needs or underperforming solutions. Listen to your users: they’ll tell you where those problems exist. Let’s explore an example of what that looks like when using JumpCloud’s Open Directory Platform. Your objective is to protect access to Wi-Fi and VPN connections. JumpCloud makes it easier to configure a RADIUS server and layer MFA on top without disrupting any other solutions that you already have in place for IAM or device management. Or, you may be required to protect network hardware such as switches with MFA. JumpCloud fills that gap.

JumpCloud is an open directory platform that unifies identity, access, and device management capabilities, regardless of the underlying authentication method or device ecosystem. JumpCloud authenticates users whether they use biometrics, digital certificates, passwords, or SSH keys. Whether it’s JumpCloud or a different solution, always use a directory that enables you to securely connect to and manage all of your assets.

Core IAM Capabilities

Single sign-on (SSO) and MFA should work everywhere you want them to and for every protocol or standardized way you connect to resources, ranging from LDAP, to RADIUS, to OpenID, to SAML SSO. Any platform that restricts what resources you can connect to introduces operational and security gaps. Standards weren’t created to obstruct freedom of choice or to be left out of the inclusion of additional authentication factors. The inclusion of MFA to IAM configurations adheres to the cybersecurity requirements that are issued by international standards bodies such as ISACA, ISO/IEC, NIST, and PCI SSC. These standards exist to safeguard confidential and private information, protecting your users, customers, and reputation. SMEs are in the midst of identity transformation where protecting your assets through strong access control is as vital as managing the shift to remote work.

Integrate the Systems That Orbit IT

Eliminate manual work by automating user provisioning and access control using attributes for authorization and smart group management to assign apps. An open directory platform pulls information from authoritative sources such as HR systems. Automating group memberships and automated auditing delivers a mature approach to entitlement management and reduces the likelihood of unauthorized access. Once more, there’s a cost to inaction.

The Importance of Onboarding Automation

Think about your first day on a new job. Was your PC ready to go and were resources available to work? You’d remember if they weren’t, which may have affected your impression of that employer. Likewise, you’d notice when things go smoothly. IT doesn’t have to miss the opportunity to start the user relationship off on the right foot, while making life easier for itself.

Automate the Identity Lifecycle

IT unification assists with managing the user lifecycle and makes core applications available for onboarding. An open directory that integrates with data sources provisions user access rights, which reduces onboarding errors that can be introduced through manual data entry. HR system integration eliminates identity sprawl and breaks down the silos that commonly surround HR. Coordinated provisioning between human resources and IT can help to ensure that onboardings go smoothly. If you haven’t begun before the start date, you’re behind. This approach leads to a standardized onboarding process throughout the organization, which doesn’t vary across departments. Unification makes onboarding smoother and more efficient.

Significant breaches have occurred because user accounts were forgotten

The Colonial Pipeline data breach disrupted the flow of energy resources throughout the United States, but it was easily preventable. Nearly USD $5 million was paid to criminals in bitcoin with only approximately half being recovered by civil authorities. Traditional directory systems such as Active Directory cannot readily accomplish this without adding layers of services (or integrations) that increase costs and complexity. Select a system that incorporates modern authentication and interrogates the privileges that permit access to your resources.

Consolidate and Eliminate Tools That Aren’t Necessary

You’ll gain deeper vendor relationships with the suppliers of your core stack and learn more about what’s possible from those systems after you reduce sprawl. Having too many systems to deploy or renew limits the time that’s available to understand what you’ve purchased. You also lose visibility, efficiency, and precious time. It’s okay to let go and move on from your “stuff.”

Unification Helps MSPs Succeed

It’s not only IT organizations that will benefit. Managed service providers (MSPs) face many of the same challenges as IT departments, but have to operate at scale and service many clients. MSPs gain higher productivity by supporting fewer solutions, and scale increases margins. You can eliminate shadow IT for clients through controlling the environment better, and reduce your internal tool sprawl. Using multiple monitoring tools that focus on a single aspect of the client’s environment can lead to alerts and warnings being missed. MSPs that deliver IT unification gain a competitive advantage and deliver greater value back to their clients.

Bringing some semblance of order to an ERP system gone rogue

In another real-world scenario, an IT administrator didn’t understand how their ERP system worked or what it was capable of. He turned to his trusty.NET development skills and duplicated its functionality. That led to unneeded applications that were unsupported (beyond one individual). The apps were being used in production for critical workflows. The IT team would have benefited from working more closely with the ERP vendor to better utilize its system. Afterall, they were paying a lot of money for it. There’s no such thing as a partial ERP implementation, and that holds true for every system that you adopt.