Strategies for Your Business to Prevent Access Creep
The term ‘access creep’ (aka privilege creep) may not necessarily be familiar to you, but if your business involves data or communication of any kind (which is pretty much everyone), you need to not only know what it means, but also understand what strategies you should be putting in place to prevent it from happening.
While the problem can be amplified in larger organizations, even smaller companies with just a few employees can still fall foul of potential breaches in data security due to this insidious issue.
So just what does the term mean and how could it affect your business?
What is Access Creep?
Put simply, it refers to what happens when there’s a gradual accumulation over time of multiple users with unnecessary privileges, permissions and rights that are not actually required in order for them to perform the duties required by their position. One of the biggest problems is that it’s not always obvious that the issue is occurring, so it can sometimes take a long time for a business to identify there’s a problem or a serious threat to security.
How Does it Happen?
There are various ways access creep can, well, creep into a business unnoticed and unchecked. Some of the most common are due to:
Staff changes, promotions or terminations
Temporary permissions not revoked at the completion of a special or temporary project
New or altered job position requirements or internal department moves, where previous permissions are not removed
In any of the above scenarios, when employees retain privileges that are no longer related to their current duties or position, it can create a serious risk to security in several ways, including (but not limited to):
Risk to compliance of privacy laws and regulations
Risk to internal workflow, communication and compliance
Risk from hacking at a high level, with extended access within the network
Risk from insider threats, for example disgruntled/former employees
Smart Businesses Use Smart Strategies
At the most basic level, preventing privilege creep starts with maintaining the clarity of credentials and privilege rights across the entire organization. Best practice procedures will, of course, differ depending on the organization, but some things should be non-negotiable if you’re serious about protecting the security of your data and communications.
Identity Governance (IG)
It’s vital that a business establishes an access control policy and enforces it from the top down. By incorporating a policy of IG, the appropriate department or person (usually the IT security team in larger organizations, or via CIO as a service) will be afforded vital visibility surrounding the digital privileges of all employees. This allows for smooth and compliant auditing processes (see below) and the ability to revoke any unnecessary privileges – even from employees at the highest level of management and administration.
Access reviews
One of the best ways to stay on top of the problem is by carrying out regular auditing of privileges. While this process can look very different, depending on the size of the business, it would usually entail departmental reviews and also the review of privileges at an individual employee level. If they are to be effective, these reviews need to be carried out regularly, as well as at the completion of every special project. Managers should, as a matter of course, review the access rights of each and every employee to ascertain they are still required by the position they currently hold.
If implemented into the protocol of an organization’s overall network auditing, it can become an embedded process, therefore adding another level of security.
While the process can be prohibitively time consuming, software exists that can be of assistance if required.
The Principle of Least Privilege
If you implement the ‘principle of least privilege’ across the entire company it can prevent breaches by employees with unnecessary access. It just means that every user is only afforded the lowest level of access required to carry out the duties of their role. By the same token, ensuring that a protocol of privileges is assigned to a role, rather than the user themselves, can reduce the risk.
Proper and Consistent Procedures
Implementing an effective, secure and, above all, consistent process when it comes to assigning and revoking privileges is vital. Any kind of transition in role for every employee should go through the same protocol when it comes to on-boarding, off-boarding and any change of role or department within the organization. This should preferably be managed and overseen by IT security.
Keeping Current
Many companies (more than half according to some sources) are still using outdated methods when it comes to storage and management of company-wide credentials. This includes things like the use of passwords and recording access credentials on hard copy (paper) or spread sheets. In order to keep information as secure as possible, you should consider switching to the use of technology like geofencing, multi-level authentication and one time PINs to boost security and prevent potential hackers being able to breach the network at a high level.
Stay on Top of this Silent Threat
Access creep is becoming more and more prevalent today in organizations of all sizes. It’s not something anyone can afford to ignore, as it can lead to huge and often very serious threats to the security of data and communication if it’s not managed. But by implementing consistent, effective strategies it’s much easier to counteract and pre-empt any issues before they arise.
Defended Solutions can help you stay on top of privilege creep and all aspects of your business’s communication and data security. Get in touch with an experienced member of our team to talk about what we can provide to ensure the safety of your communications. Based on your individual requirements we’ll create an effective, bespoke strategy.
