The Business Benefits of Prioritizing Identity Security

Today, applications can run anywhere — on-premises or in the cloud — and users can access them from anywhere, on virtually any device. Modern business trends including remote and hybrid work, distributed and extended workforces (such as contractors, partners, vendors, and other third parties), and the proliferation of cloud-hosted applications have led to the emergence of a new security perimeter: identity.

As attackers increasingly target identities, organizations must stay ahead by implementing a comprehensive identity security program. In this article, we explain how the right approach to identity security can enhance your organization’s security posture, improve the employee experience, and deliver significant business benefits.

A strong security posture is good for business

When an organization falls victim to a ransomware attack or a data breach, normal business operations grind to a halt. It’s never “business as usual” when your employees, partners, and customers can’t access your critical applications and data because of a cyberattack.

By improving network security and account hygiene, an identity security program can help organizations prevent breaches before they occur and respond quickly when compromised accounts are discovered, thus reducing the impact of any potential breaches.

Don’t be the weak link in your supply chain security posture

In our modern interconnected world, no business is an island, and the weakest link in your security posture may be one of your supply chain partners. According to research from BlueVoyant, more than four-fifths of organizations (81 percent) were impacted by supply chain attacks in 2024. Of course, supply chain attacks aren’t new — the 2013 Target data breach was the result of a compromised account belonging to a third-party maintenance vendor — but they have become more prevalent. More recently, the Change Healthcare (a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group) attack in February 2024 cost nearly $9 billion in response efforts and assistance to affected healthcare providers.

Every business has a supply chain and is a part of the supply chain itself — whether as an upstream supplier, downstream customer, or both. Third-party risk management has taken on renewed importance and can be a competitive differentiator when selecting new partnerships or renewing existing relationships. Yet many organizations struggle to manage third-party access to their systems and data. A strong identity security program can help an organization better manage guest accounts and monitor third-party activities, reducing the risk of data breaches caused by third-party access.

Security is only strong if it is adopted

While the login experience isn’t likely to top your employees’ list of factors impacting job satisfaction, it is a routine part of their daily work lives, and a poor experience can quickly cause user frustration. Struggling to remember different passwords, answering numerous multi-factor authentication (MFA) prompts, or calling the help desk to unlock their account — all before they’ve had their first cup of coffee — isn’t a great way to start the workday.

Employees can benefit from an identity security program that provides quick and seamless access to their applications and devices, increasing productivity and reducing user frustration. A well-designed identity security program can also increase operational efficiency and decrease resource strain on IT and help desk teams by streamlining identity and access management (IAM) workflows such as account provisioning, permissions management, MFA enrollment, password resets, and reporting. It’s a win-win for everyone.