Federal Agency Identity Management and Authentication Solutions

Federal Agency Identity Management and Authentication Solutions

As digital options expand, the need for ensuring the trustworthiness and consistency of government services also increases. A major means to do that is IAM (Identity and access management), which can secure a federal agency to render it compliant with the requirements of the government as well.
The days when the walls of the office defined the perimeters of a federal agency are long gone. In this digitally advanced day and age, employees access data and resources remotely from across various locations and devices. These and several other changes within the federal agency landscape have made OMB (Office of Management and Budget) issue various updates to the ICAM (identity, credentials, and access management) policy of the federal government.
The updates require a federal agency to approach identity management in a manner that integrates risk management along with staying aligned with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) guidelines. Fraudulent claims, online impersonators, malware, ransomware, and other threats cannot be prevented and fended off with just a simple checklist of security mandates now. Gaining a deep understanding of the unique risks that a federal agency faces and leveraging that information for driving the mitigation strategies and technologies that can diminish them is where the key lies.
What is more, is that the update to the policy now requires a federal agency to move to using identity management as the primary resource to manage risks that arise from various federal resource access attempts from merely managing the inside and outside access of its perimeter. NIST explains the purpose of this requirement as being a way to make malicious actors require spending of greater resources and better capabilities in order to be able to subvert the process of authentication successfully.
The federal agency IT (information technology) health was assessed and even improved through a 30-day cybersecurity sprint launched by the Obama administration following the extensive 2015 breach of OPM (Office of Personnel Management). The efforts triggered the use of PIV (personal identity verification) cards by users, especially system administrators and account holders that were privileged to access federal agency systems and networks.
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Here are some practices and solutions for identity and access management that a federal agency needs to employ:

Elimination of Systems That Are High Risk

Even in today’s digital world, many agencies are reluctant to shift to the cloud from on-premise systems due to a false fear of cybersecurity threats when using applications and data centers that are based on on-premise systems is far riskier. Efficient and reliable cloud service providers, like Cloud Computing Technologies, can render federal agency security extremely robust through secure identity management and authentication.

Furthermore, agencies that go for the utilization of the cloud for enhancing their identity and access management systems are able to save significant resources and costs. With secure access requirements, integrations, encryption, segmentation, and patch management, a federal agency can be made much safer.

Constant Monitoring and Orphaned Account Removal

Proper offboarding of employees from the network after they retire or leave is of paramount importance when it comes to the security of a federal agency. Failure to deprovision can result in orphaned accounts that, without an efficient solution for identity management, is something that hackers love. Such accounts can lead to identity and credential theft that can consequently result in security attacks and breaches.

Automated Onboarding and Offboarding

A federal agency cannot afford to put its systems at risk from manual processes of permission and privilege grants. Proper identity and access management integrate automated processes for a partner, vendor, contractor, or employee onboarding to mitigate the chances of human error. It also saves money and time and ensures allotment of the right permissions as well as proper deprovisioning.

Development of a Zero Trust Approach Towards Security

The identity management landscape holds zero trust as a crucial part of itself. It makes sure that no application or user is trusted, either outside or inside the network before their identity gets verified. Not only that, but it also ensures the endurance of robust security measures from the entry point right to the exit point.
Continuous authentication and breathing by the zero-trust philosophy are even more important for a federal agency as the users leverage SaaS applications and multiple devices outside the agency’s network.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Microservice is the breaking up of traditionally tightly coupled application components into small specialized services that communicate through HTTPS REST and HTTPS API interfaces.
Since Microservices are small specialized services, they can be quickly and efficiently rearranged to accommodate future capabilities unknown at the present time.
Microservices are independent and modular which allows for significant flexibility in communications patterns and often prevent cascading failure.
DevOps is the combination of development and operations into a single function of software development and infrastructure management. The main priority of DevOps is the reduction of barriers to speed of delivery.
DevSecOps empowers everyone in the development process using a security focused tool set to address timely security decisions at speed and scale of each development stage. The main priority of DevSecOps is risk reduction through DevOps security accountability and governance.
Security automation in DevSecOps increases speed of code releases while reducing the risk using static application security testing (SAST), dynamic application security testing (DAST), and code dependency checking.
High business value is realized from quick and efficient response to market opportunities and challenges, optimization for innovation, and reduction of technical debt all lead to superior competitive advantage.
CCT is pleased to discuss your requirements and present a proposal for your review and consideration. Call us today at 1-800-804-9726 x105.

Using Multi-Factor Authentication

Logging on devices and applications within a federal agency network must not be allowed with the use of just a password. Identity and access management tools like multi-factor authentication can provide the network with an additional security layer.

Centralization of the System

Keeping track of everything that goes on within a federal agency, from portals to databases, to applications, and to users, is critical. 360-degree visibility is only possible through the use of a centralized system which allows a gain in perspective about identity and access management and authentication management status.
The primary reasons for identity management program failures include a lack of understanding of the depth of the program, insufficient communication of the value of the project, non-involvement, and lack of support from the executives, etc.
A federal agency now has to carry out a number of digital transactions with public agencies. In-person visits are getting rarer and rarer, and citizens are opting for clicking and swiping to get various federal endeavors tackled. Digital services have enhanced the capabilities of federal agencies pertaining to their operations and processes, but cybersecurity remains a major issue that can only be remedied through proper and reliable identity and access management systems.

Conclusion to Federal Agency Identity Management and Authentication Solutions

Identity management and validation solutions to enhance security and privacy require specialized expertise that Cloud Computing Technologies is equipped with. The technology giant has a strong and extensive portfolio that contains a number of successful government-level projects. A federal agency can build online trust and improve its identity and authentication systems in a significant manner by getting in touch with Cloud Computing Technologies.

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