The majority of IT experts believe that monitoring for cybersecurity threats will become more challenging over the next 18 months as organizations return to work from a variety of locations, with identity management key to cybersecurity success.
That’s according to a new survey from identity and cybersecurity firm SailPoint which discovered that 86% of IT experts in EMEA expect their organization’s number of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications to grow over the next year-and-a-half, even as UK workers begin heading back to physical office spaces as the COVID-19 lockdown continues to ease.
Identity governance is therefore going to be business critical to effectively manage cybersecurity threats, the survey noted. In fact, 62% of respondents said they are considering expanding their organization’s identity platform over the next year to help meet the challenges ahead.
Ben Bulpett, EMEA director at SailPoint, said: “The shift to remote working has made it more difficult for IT teams to monitor the enterprise security perimeter, with hackers looking to take advantage of multiple user access points.
“For many companies, security and compliance gaps have surfaced in the rush to maintain business continuity, and it’s crucial these issues are resolved to ensure business survival. As organizations brace themselves for a new economic storm, identity governance is one of the tools that can help them navigate through the challenging times ahead.”
Whether employees continue working from home, return to the office with different responsibilities, or enter into a contract-based role, identity governance plays a crucial part in protecting the enterprise security perimeter, Bulpett added.
“Through this, IT teams can speed up the process of enabling and securing their users’ access to key applications, data and infrastructure, pivoting quickly as the business’ and users’ needs change.”