Regulatory compliances and IAM technology go hand-in-hand, as they focus on the same two entities—user and data. At a high level, it includes users’ actions around data, users’ accountability, users’ privacy and data protection.
While IAm implementation is often believed to be a high expense task for organizations, it is also pegged as an investment—that too a smart one! How? It is about subverting impending threats, strategically creating It systems for business efficiency and improvements. The benefits from achieving compliance are two fold—meeting basic security requirements and bringing operational efficiency through automation of It processes related to provisioning, authentication, SSo, attestations, etc.
As IAM solutions emphasize the importance of its role in helping organizations meet compliance requirements, it is imperative to take a closer look at each one of them and how they can be addressed at different levels. many regulations require organizations to harness IAM technology. Violations of regulatory compliance often result in harsh penalization.
Some other compliances that require IAm technology include FDA 21 CFR Part 11; The Health Information technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act; ISo 27001; Federal Information Security management Act (FISMA); Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS 200); and National Institute of Standards technology Special Publication (NIST SP 800-53).
Federal regulations and industry standards mandate businesses to enforce It audit controls. Regulatory compliances defend enterprise systems for the protection of user accounts, shareholders, the public and most importantly a business brand. Therefore, regulations concerning privacy and separation-of-duty requirements are here to stay, and perhaps evolve for better!
While achieving compliance to regulations, security professionals need a strong hold on attaining tactical goals through managing, measuring and monitoring It governance initiatives. It is recommended that the tactical goals are aligned to regulatory environment, applicable standards and controls. Integrated business systems for industry specific or cross-industry compliance requirements need to be achieved by keeping a close watch on core and non-core business applications. In addition, stepping-up the legacy architecture by bringing together It systems with current business requirements will make them more responsive towards regulatory dynamics.