61% of breaches involve compromised credentials. By 2025, machine identities will outnumber human ones by 45 to 1, creating massive security challenges. Weak authentication methods, excessive permissions, and poor SaaS visibility are leaving businesses vulnerable.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Secure Machine Identities: Replace hardcoded secrets with vault-managed ephemeral credentials.
- Strengthen Authentication: Use MFA, adaptive authentication, and strong password policies.
- Limit Excessive Permissions: Apply least privilege principles and automate unused identity removal.
- Monitor Continuously: Use tools like SIEM and UEBA for real-time threat detection.
- Adopt Zero Trust: Treat identity as the new security boundary and enforce temporary credentials.
This guide provides actionable steps, from setting up role-based controls to securing tools like Keycloak and Skycloak. Stay ahead of threats by implementing these IAM strategies now.
9 IAM Best Practices to Secure Your Enterprise
Basic IAM Security Requirements
A staggering 99% of cloud users, roles, services, and resources have unused or excessive permissions. This highlights the urgent need for strong foundational controls. Start by setting clear policies, then enforce them using role-based and attribute-based controls along with automated lifecycle management.
Creating Clear Access Management Policies
Well-defined access management policies are the backbone of effective IAM security. Alarming statistics show that 44% of organizations allow password reuse, and 53% tolerate weak passwords (fewer than 14 characters). To counter these risks, your policies should:
- Set strict password rules
- Require multi-factor authentication (MFA) for critical resources
- Apply least privilege access principles
- Automate the removal of unused or overly permissive identities
- Use federated identity management to centralize access control
Jasmine Henry from JupiterOne emphasizes the connection between excessive permissions, poor access controls, and security breaches. Address these issues at scale by incorporating DevSecOps practices.
Setting Up RBAC and ABAC Controls
- RBAC (Role-Based Access Control): Ideal for stable team structures, it uses predefined roles and is straightforward to implement.
- ABAC (Attribute-Based Access Control): Driven by user, resource, and environmental attributes, ABAC works well for large, dynamic environments.
Managing User Account Lifecycles
- Provisioning: During onboarding, implement Single Sign-On (SSO) and MFA, and grant permissions based on specific roles.
- Monitoring: Conduct regular audits of user and service accounts to prevent privilege creep.
- Deprovisioning: Automate the deactivation of accounts immediately when roles change or employees leave, including machine identities.
Security Control Methods
After establishing your foundational policies and lifecycle controls, it’s time to implement these essential security measures.
Strengthen your Identity and Access Management (IAM) by enforcing strong authentication, setting session limits, and using advanced threat detection.
MFA Setup and Password Standards
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of protection. Combine different types of verification, such as:
- Something you know: passwords, PINs
- Something you have: one-time codes, authenticator apps
- Something you are: biometrics, facial recognition
- Contextual factors: geolocation, IP address
For even more security, configure adaptive MFA. This approach adjusts verification requirements based on contextual data like device type, user location, and behavior patterns.
Managing Sessions and Access Keys
Control access by enforcing strict session and token policies:
- Set timeouts for idle and maximum session durations, including SSO and client sessions.
- Limit the lifespan of access tokens and offline refresh tokens.
- Require offline tokens to be used at least once every 30 days, revoking tokens after each use.
These measures reduce the risk of unauthorized access and token misuse.
Security Threat Prevention
Stay ahead of threats with these tools and practices:
- Use a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system with User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) to flag failed logins, unusual locations, and privilege misuse.
- Monitor authentication events and access logs in real time, setting up alerts for suspicious activity.
- Regularly audit privileged and service accounts, addressing anomalies promptly.
Finally, fine-tune security settings for tools like Keycloak and Skycloak to secure realms, clients, and administrative accounts effectively.
Keycloak and Skycloak Security Setup
Using Skycloak Security Features
Once you’ve secured realms and clients in Keycloak, Skycloak offers additional tools to strengthen authentication and ensure compliance.
Skycloak enhances Keycloak security with features like:
- Social login, passkeys, SSO, and MFA setup guides
- Hosting in the EU, strict data access controls, and encryption for data both at rest and in transit to meet GDPR requirements
- SOC 2 certification, with HIPAA and ISO 27001 certifications expected by 2025
2025 IAM Security Updates
Strengthen security by integrating Zero Trust principles, protecting machine identities, and implementing continuous monitoring.
Zero Trust Implementation Steps
Identity-based attacks affect 78% of organizations. This makes adopting Zero Trust strategies essential.
- Focus on Identity-First Security: Treat identity as the new security boundary by enforcing real-time policies tailored to specific conditions.
- Use Adaptive Authentication: Implement methods like adaptive authentication and identity proofing to verify users as circumstances evolve.
- Minimize Standing Privileges: Issue temporary credentials on demand to reduce risks tied to permanent access rights.
In addition to these steps, ensure automated systems and API endpoints are properly secured.
Securing Machine and API Access
By 2025, machine identities will outnumber human identities by 45 to 1. If compromised, these identities can give attackers admin-level access, leading to data breaches and service disruptions.
- Replace hardcoded secrets with ephemeral credentials, managed securely through a vault system.
The next step is focusing on continuous monitoring to mitigate access risks effectively.
Security Monitoring and Compliance
Weak identity and access management contribute to half of all data breaches. With the American Privacy Rights Act and other regulations expected in 2025, improving IAM monitoring is crucial.
“IAM is no longer a back-office concern – it’s the linchpin of digital trust, business resilience, and innovation.” – Danny de Vreeze, Vice President of Identity & Access Management at Thales
Key strategies include:
- Using AI and machine learning to verify documents.
- Automating compliance checks with policy-as-code to enforce permissions in real time.
Conclusion: Maintaining Strong IAM Security
As mentioned earlier, having a thorough IAM strategy is key to staying ahead of emerging threats. Chris Simmons highlights that vulnerabilities in SSO, MFA, and credential hygiene remain areas enterprises need to address in 2025.
The fact that 61% of all breaches involve credentials emphasizes the importance of strong IAM practices. To ensure robust security, organizations should prioritize:
- Identity-First Security: Strengthen identity verification and enforce strict access controls.
- Machine Identity Security: Develop dedicated security measures for machine identities across all environments.
- Continuous Monitoring and Compliance: Use real-time detection and response tools while adhering to regulatory standards.
Skycloak’s automated tools and configurations simplify deployments and enhance IAM defenses. Refer to the checklist – including policies, controls, threat prevention, and Keycloak/Skycloak setup – to put these recommendations into action effectively.