Identity threat detection and response use grows despite challenges

Organizations are facing increasingly sophisticated threats to their identity infrastructure so it's not surprising that a new survey of over 370 IT professionals shows use of identity threat detection and response (ITDR) technology is growing, though many are running into roadblocks to unlocking its full potential.

The study from Quest Software shows 84 percent of organizations are reaping benefits from their ITDR efforts, even if it hasn’t been fully implemented. Over one in three (36 percent) say their expectations have been fully met or exceeded.

The top three challenges to implementation identified are integration with existing systems (69 percent), lack of budget (61 percent) and insufficient expertise (59 percent). In addition nearly half of organizations point to a lack of executive understanding of the ITDR business case as a challenge, leading to inadequate funding of the effort.

There's also a lack of strategic focus on identity threat prevention, identity disaster recovery, and the involvement of internal IAM teams in ITDR efforts. Only half of companies use an identity infrastructure security solution, while just 31 percent test their identity disaster recovery plans, and only 34 percent cite their access management teams as being primarily responsible for ITDR.

"One study participant mentioned that their executives believe multifactor authentication alone is sufficient for ITDR. However, ITDR extends far beyond general access management, encompassing all aspects of identity security," says John Hernandez, president, and general manager at Quest Software. "Our research demonstrates that an ITDR strategy is proving highly effective in addressing identity-based threats. The challenge now is to educate organizations so that identity management and security teams receive the attention and funding they need."

You can get the full report from the Quest site.

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