User Access Reviews: How They Work & Best Practices

The landscape of user access reviews has become increasingly complex due to the rise in cloud-based services and SaaS applications, with the average enterprise juggling 364 SaaS applications and 1,295 cloud services. This complexity is further exacerbated by the introduction of service accounts and machine identities, which often possess poorly understood permissions and are poorly monitored. The increasing sophistication of cyber attacks also means there's a greater chance for threat actors to exploit vulnerabilities or find gaps in security coverage. User access reviews (UAR) are crucial for maintaining the integrity of an organization’s security posture, ensuring sensitive information remains protected, and upholding compliance with various regulatory standards. They can be used as part of a defense in depth strategy that provides an extra layer of security to catch any provisioning (or deprovisioning) mistakes along the way and stick to the principle of least privilege. Performing user access reviews are crucial for maintaining the integrity of your organization’s security posture, ensuring sensitive information remains protected, and upholding compliance with various regulatory standards. They can be used as part of a defense in depth strategy that provides an extra layer of security to catch any provisioning (or deprovisioning) mistakes along the way and stick to the principle of least privilege. The importance of user access reviews cannot be overstated in our rapidly evolving digital landscape. These reviews are not merely a procedural checkbox, but a cornerstone of an effective cybersecurity strategy. They protect sensitive data, help organizations comply with standards, laws, and regulations, prevent privilege creep, decrease access debt, and reduce insider threats. To navigate user access reviews effectively, organizations should determine what systems should be reviewed, how often user access should be reviewed, identify who should review access for each role, generate user access reports, perform the access assessment, remove access for those who don’t need it, and re-run the access list to ensure access was appropriately removed. Best practices for conducting user access reviews include documenting your access control & management policy, implementing the principle of least privilege, automating the user access review process, and providing education and training on user access best practices. Challenges associated with user access reviews include understanding user access reviews vs access reviews, manual or outdated review processes, complex permissions, and lack of context during the review process. Modernizing user access reviews with Intelligent Access can help organizations overcome these challenges by providing a holistic view of all user and non-human access rights, automating the review process, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, and reducing the risk of unauthorized access and potential data breaches.