Access Control & Identity Risks
Protecting your organization through proper authentication, authorization, and identity management to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive financial data
Breaches Involve Stolen Credentials
Verizon DBIR 2023
Average Cost of Credential Breach
For small financial firms
Use Weak Passwords
Despite security training
Identity Is the New Perimeter
With remote work and cloud services, traditional network boundaries have dissolved. Identity and access management is now your primary security control, making proper authentication and authorization critical to protecting sensitive mortgage and financial data.
Critical Access & Identity Threats
Understanding vulnerabilities in authentication and authorization systems
Credential Theft & Compromise
Stolen usernames and passwords remain the most common attack vector, obtained through phishing, data breaches, or brute force attacks.
- Password reuse: Same credentials across multiple services
- Credential stuffing: Automated login attempts with stolen credentials
- Keylogging: Malware capturing login information
- Session hijacking: Stealing active authentication tokens
Privilege Escalation
Attackers exploiting vulnerabilities or misconfigurations to gain higher-level permissions than originally granted.
- Vertical escalation: Standard user gaining admin rights
- Horizontal escalation: Accessing other users' data
- Misconfigured permissions: Overly broad access grants
- Orphaned accounts: Former employees retaining access
Insider Threats
Authorized users intentionally or accidentally misusing their legitimate access to harm the organization.
- Malicious insiders: Employees stealing data for profit
- Negligent users: Accidental data exposure or loss
- Compromised insiders: Accounts controlled by attackers
- Third-party contractors: External users with internal access
Multi-Factor Authentication Bypass
Sophisticated techniques attackers use to circumvent even strong authentication mechanisms.
- MFA fatigue: Bombarding users with approval requests
- SIM swapping: Hijacking phone numbers for SMS codes
- Man-in-the-middle: Intercepting authentication tokens
- Social engineering: Tricking users into approving access
Identity & Access Management Best Practices
Implementing robust controls to protect against unauthorized access
Multi-Factor Authentication
Require MFA for all accounts, especially privileged users and remote access
- Hardware tokens or authenticator apps
- Avoid SMS-based authentication
- Conditional access policies
Strong Password Policies
Enforce complex passwords and regular updates with password manager usage
- Minimum 12 characters
- Complexity requirements
- Breach monitoring
Least Privilege Access
Grant minimum necessary permissions for users to perform their job functions
- Role-based access control
- Regular permission reviews
- Just-in-time access
Account Lifecycle Management
Properly provision, modify, and deprovision user accounts throughout employment
- Automated onboarding/offboarding
- Immediate termination access removal
- Dormant account monitoring
Access Monitoring & Logging
Track and analyze all authentication attempts and privileged actions
- Failed login tracking
- Privileged access auditing
- Anomaly detection
Session Management
Control session duration and implement automatic timeouts for inactive users
- Automatic session expiration
- Concurrent session limits
- Secure token management
Implementing Zero Trust Architecture
"Never trust, always verify" - the modern approach to access security
Core Zero Trust Principles
- Verify explicitly using all available data points
- Use least privilege access consistently
- Assume breach and minimize blast radius
- Segment access to limit lateral movement
Implementation Components
- Identity-based access controls
- Device health verification
- Network micro-segmentation
- Continuous monitoring and analytics
Strengthen Your Identity Security Posture
Our identity and access management solutions provide comprehensive protection against credential theft, unauthorized access, and insider threats tailored for financial services compliance.