Access Modeling Milestone

Access Modeling is a critical milestone in identity security management, providing a structured approach to defining and managing user access within an organization. This process involves creating a comprehensive access model that aligns with business objectives and compliance requirements, ensuring that users have the appropriate access to perform their roles effectively. The following guidelines offer a detailed, step-by-step approach to establishing a robust access model, addressing key considerations and common pitfalls to help ensure a successful implementation. By adhering to these best practices, organizations can enhance their security posture, streamline access management, and support ongoing compliance efforts.

1

Establish phased scope, objectives, and measures

Resources:

Identity Security Cloud

• Managing Roles

IdentityIQ

• Role Management in IdentityIQ
• Role-based Access Control (RBAC)
• Best Practices: Logical Apps vs Roles

Advice:

Treat access modeling as a phased program to manage complexity and improve outcomes. Start by defining objectives and measurable success criteria. Partner with subject-matter experts—managers, IT and security, HR, and application owners—who understand team responsibilities and application usage to identify the segments most in need of RBAC.

Create or update an access-modeling roadmap that outlines each phase, milestones, and decision points. Incorporate feedback and lessons learned from earlier phases to refine subsequent steps.

Pitfalls:

• Not treating access modeling as a program can lead to unrealistic expectations about the time and resources required, potentially resulting in rushed or incomplete implementations.
• Overlooking the importance of phased objectives can cause scope creep and misaligned efforts, making it difficult to achieve verifiable outcomes.

2

Cleanse account and entitlement data

Resources:

• Clean Data Crash Course

Identity Security Cloud

• Managing Entitlements
• Managing Access Profiles
• Managing Roles

IdentityIQ

• IdentityIQ Entitlement Catalog
• Identity Entitlements Tab
• Identity Entitlements Detail Report
• Best Practices: Working with a large entitlement catalog in IdentityIQ

Advice:

Before building roles, ensure that your in-scope entitlement and account data is clean, accurate, and free of duplicates. This foundational step is crucial for accurate role creation and prevents issues related to incorrect or outdated access information.

Pitfalls:

• Skipping data cleansing can lead to the creation of roles based on incorrect or outdated information, resulting in inefficiencies and security risks.
• Failing to identify and remove duplicate data can cause confusion and redundancy in access management.

3

Model access via AI and/or business analysis

Resources:

• Best Practices: Tips for Creating Roles
• Efficiently Craft the Right Roles with Access Modeling
• Access Modeling Best Practices

Identity Security Cloud

• ISC: Access Modeling
• AI-Driven Access Modeling
• Discover Common Access

IdentityIQ

• Role Management in IdentityIQ
• Role-based Access Control
• Relationship between Roles and Entitlements/Permissions
• Role Mining
• Role Management Reports
• Discovering Common Access
• Create Common Access
• Sunrise and Sunset Dates in Roles for Temporary Access
• Roles with Multiple Accounts

Advice:

Use Identity AI services—or partner with system owners and business stakeholders—to design the in-scope access model. These experts help surface access patterns, define job responsibilities, and evaluate options. AI can accelerate the work; without it, apply a two-tier approach:

Tier 1: Access bundles

• Group permissions that support functional requirements into Access Profiles (Identity Security Cloud) or IT Roles (IdentityIQ).

Tier 2: Population groupings

• Identify identity populations with similar needs and group them into Roles (Identity Security Cloud) or Business Roles (IdentityIQ).

Finally, configure and maintain the mappings between the two tiers to ensure the right populations receive the correct access bundles.

Note: Customers with Access Modeling should leverage Role Discovery to streamline these efforts.

Pitfalls:

• Not leveraging AI when available can lead to manual errors and longer development times.
• Inadequate involvement of business stakeholders can result in a misalignment between access models and actual business needs.

4

Set business-friendly display names and descriptions

Resources:

• Best Practices: Tips for Creating Roles
• Quick Tips on Naming Conventions for Roles and Entitlements

Identity Security Cloud

• Managing Entitlements

IdentityIQ

• GenAI Descriptions Overview
• GenAI Descriptions for Entitlements Features

Advice:

Ensure that access items have consistent and meaningful names and descriptions to help business users quickly understand what they are assigning, approving, or reviewing. Clear naming conventions enhance usability and reduce errors during access management processes.

Pitfalls:

• Using technical or inconsistent names can confuse business users, leading to incorrect assignments and approvals.
• Lack of meaningful descriptions can make it difficult for users to understand the purpose and scope of access items.

5

Flag high-risk access items

Resources:

Identity Security Cloud

• Tagging Items in Search
• Marking Privileged Entitlements

IdentityIQ

• Classifications in IdentityIQ
• Classify Elevated Access
• Elevated Access Overview

Advice:

Identify high-risk items within the access model and flag them for business users. This visibility ensures that high-risk items receive appropriate scrutiny during request, approval, and review processes, helping to mitigate security risks.

Pitfalls:

• Failing to flag high-risk items can result in inadequate oversight, increasing the potential for security breaches.
• Overlooking the risk level of access items can lead to a lack of prioritization in access management, potentially compromising critical systems.

6

Complete role composition certifications

Resources:

Identity Security Cloud

• Creating a Role Composition Certification Campaign

IdentityIQ

• Certify the contents of a Role
• Propagate Role Changes
• Perform Role Impact Analysis
• Versioning Roles

Advice:

Have business experts certify in-scope roles to validate that they include the correct and expected access. Establish a recurring review and maintenance cycle to ensure the access model remains accurate and relevant post-deployment.

Pitfalls:

• Skipping role composition certification can result in roles that do not meet business requirements, leading to inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities.
• Failing to establish a recurring review cycle can cause the access model to become outdated, compromising its effectiveness over time.

7

Enable access items and verify deployment

Resources:

IdentityIQ

• Propagate Role Changes
• Perform Role Impact Analysis
• Versioning Roles

Advice:

After deploying in-scope changes, enable the relevant access items and confirm they function as intended. Collect feedback to spot improvements and ensure the access-management process remains effective.

Plan regular reviews and certifications to keep roles current and accurate. Establish role-maintenance processes to handle ongoing changes, and define criteria and steps to retire roles that are no longer needed.

Make periodic certification of role composition and membership a standing part of your RBAC program.

Note: Customers with Access Modeling should leverage Role Insights to streamline these efforts.

Pitfalls:

• Not verifying the deployment can lead to unnoticed errors and access issues, disrupting business operations.
• Ignoring feedback can result in missed opportunities for process improvement and can perpetuate existing inefficiencies or security gaps.