Enterprises wasting investment on identity management solutions

According to a new study 70 percent of companies report they're paying for identity tools they're not actively using.

The research from OneIdentity, which surveyed over 1,000 IT security professionals, shows 96 percent of companies are using multiple identity management tools, with 41 percent deploying at least 25 different systems to manage access rights.

Identity sprawl is a major issue with 52 percent of companies managing more than 10,000 identities, which include access rights given to employees, devices, machines, digital identities, and customers.

In addition 42 percent of businesses report that identity tool inefficiencies are costing organizations over $100,000 per year.

"Legacy approaches to identity and access management have caused organizations to adopt multiple identity solutions, and the lack of interoperability between these tools has a direct business and security impact," says Mark Logan, CEO of One Identity. "Our research shows that organizations see the negative impact that multiple, fragmented identity tools have on their business. By shifting security professionals' mindset from a disparate, tool-based approach to a platform approach, businesses can improve their identity security defenses to protect against the modern threat landscape."

Among other findings, nine out of 10 organizations were hit by an identity-based attack in the last year, with almost 70 percent experiencing a phishing attack. But according to 80 percent of respondents, better identity management tools could have prevented the impact of many such attacks.

On a positive note 90 percent of companies surveyed say they are planning to consolidate their security or identity management tools. Of those, more than half plan to do so in the next year. 54 percent of respondents also believe that a unified identity platform for access and identity management would benefit their organization’s identity management strategy.

You can find out more on the OneIdentity site.

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