? EDITOR ’ S QUESTION //
“
SAFEGUARDING THE WAY
DATA AND INFORMATION
IS ACCESSED SHOULD BE THE
NUMBER ONE PRIORITY
FOR SMES .
2
021 has witnessed more than 1,200 data breaches thus far , so prioritising technologies that will protect against breaches is not just an option or nice to have , but a top priority for organisations . Safeguarding the way data and information is accessed should be the number one priority for SMEs and developing a strategy first then adopting the technology is the way to go .
Recent hacks have made it evident that Privileged Access Management ( PAM ) is critical to protect from loss of data . It is the central store for non-human and admin IDs . The days of PAM only being used for storing admin passwords are far gone . From playing a critical role in application development in general and DevOps , PAM has experienced many new avenues of use cases like secrets management . One of the gaps that I observe is social media accounts for enterprises not being protected using PAM . If these accounts are hacked , it could create a slew of brand equity issues for enterprises .
SMEs need to consider and familiarise themselves with access management technologies like passwordless solutions , protocols , SSO and MFAs and their roles in tightening the security management of infrastructure , data and information . When engaging with customer data and information , SMEs need to consider technologies that help manage customer consent . Customer Identity and Access Management ( CIAM ) technologies preserve consent for every transaction and protocols like open banking and user-managed access . Therefore , those should be a critical part of strategic planning when developing an environment engaging customers .
Technology that supports API governance is another area often ignored and its value undermined . It helps in putting controls – compensatory or preventive – in connected environments where data is exposed externally but has not been put in place by many enterprises .
To summarise , security technologies that SMEs should prioritise are remote access technologies , technologies that enable collaboration , SIM and Soar UEDA technologies , passwordless and decentralised identities technologies , and API management and governance should form the core of security-related technologies .
Additionally , let ’ s not undermine products or technologies that protect , assign and govern the access around human and non-human IDs . Non-human IDs will become more significant , just as the sophistication of cyberattacks is expected to increase .
“
LET ’ S NOT
UNDERMINE PRODUCTS OR TECHNOLOGIES THAT PROTECT , ASSIGN AND GOVERN THE ACCESS AROUND HUMAN AND NON-HUMAN IDS .
VIKRAM SUBRAMANIAN , VICE PRESIDENT , SOLUTIONS AND ADVISORY , SIMEIO
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