Maximizing Cybersecurity through Effective User Lifecycle Management

The importance of User Lifecycle Management in Cybersecurity

User Lifecycle Management or ULM is one of the pillars of any good cybersecurity strategy. This is particularly so given that organizations are currently investing in their digital systems and also integrating remote work into the business strategies.

Effective ULM also ensures that the right users get the right access to the right resources at the right time thus eliminating chances of getting the wrong resources, or having the organization data end up in the wrong hands among other vices.

A ULM approach helps you to manage the user identities, the rights they have, and the activities they perform more effectively, hence it becomes easier for you to detect threats. It also decreases the issues of user control, which involves the proper registration and de-registration of users, as well as the granting, supervising and removal of user access when necessary.

The first prerequisite to improving security in an organization is understanding the importance of ULM in cybersecurity. In the following sections of this paper, the author will concentrate on describing the life cycle of ULM, its integration into the cybersecurity plan, and the primary guidelines for onboarding and offboarding users, as well as access rights.

The Stages of User Lifecycle Management

These stages include:

User Onboarding: The procedure of creating a new users and granting them the correct permissions for an organization as well as ensuring that the users know the security measures.
User Access Management: This involves the regular checking, changing and withdrawing of users’ privileges and also that the privileges given should be relevant.
User Activity Monitoring: The continuous process of tracking the users’ activity, their log-in activity and other related activities which may be suggestive of security threats.
User Offboarding: The process of exclusion of users from the system, or blocking their access to the organizational resources and eradicating all the user data including documents and files in the event of termination of an employee’s contract of service.

Thus, it is possible to develop a complex ULM framework that would correspond to the overall cybersecurity strategy and the risks that stem from the user-related security threats.

How to Incorporate User Lifecycle Management into Your Security Framework

Integrating ULM into the cybersecurity plan is not a simple process, but a complex one that requires a systems approach. Here are the key steps to consider:

Assess Your Current Cybersecurity Posture: First, evaluate the current situation in terms of cybersecurity, learn all the issues that are related to the management of users and determine the main priorities.
Develop a ULM Policy: It is crucial to create a well-defined ULM policy that will identify the measures, actions, and roles of the organization within the user life cycle. When it comes to the practical application of this policy, it should be a sub-policy of the general security policy of the organization and should conform to the laid-down compliance guidelines.
Implement Robust User Access Management: Robust user access management that will enable you to control, supervise and also audit the users’ access within your organization. Some of these are identity and access management (IAM), multi-factor authentication, and access review.
Automate User Onboarding and Offboarding: Make the process of on and off-boarding easier by combining activities such as creating the user account, permission granting, and permission revocation. This can go along way in preventing human error and will assist in properly managing the user access throughout the life-cycle.
Continuously Monitor and Analyze User Activity: Integrate the concept of monitoring and analyzing users’ activity with the activity that may be a threat to the security system. This data can be used to enhance the security controls besides improving the on-going ULM program.
Provide Security Awareness Training: Reinforce your users with the best practices of cybersecurity in terms of passwords, phishing scams, and reporting them. It is helpful to design a program that would help in maintaining the security culture of an organization and reduce the occurrences of users.

The Role of User Access Management in Cybersecurity

UAM is a sub-process of User Lifecycle Management and is a major component in enhancing the security of your organisation against cyber threats. Effective UAM involves the following key elements:

Identity and Access Management (IAM): Select an IAM solution through which you can manage user accounts, access rights and ways of identification and authentication. This helps in monitoring as well as controlling the utilization of the resources to ensure only the right user should access the specified level.
Least Privilege Principle: Use the principle of least privilege where users are given access rights that will enable them to perform their duties in the workplace. This in turn assists in reducing the likelihood of the unauthorized access and leakage of the data.
Periodic Access Reviews: From time to time check the user access permission and alter them to correspond to the user’s position. This will help to reduce the accumulation of access rights that may not be necessary or may even be obsolete at some point in time.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): This is especially the case in the present world where the number of hackers is growing and as advised should implement measures such as MFA to improve the user authentication security, thus only the right people should be allowed access to your systems and information.
Privileged Access Management (PAM): Also, use PAM controls to closely monitor the user activities with elevated privileges such as the administrator and the IT personnel.

By implementing good user management, one can ensure that the problems of wrong access and other related issues like leakage of important information is reduced. It in turn strengthens a wide range of your organisation’s protection and security of the assets in question.

Applying User Onboarding Techniques

User onboarding is the primary stage of the User Lifecycle Management which is all about managing the users and their expectations. Here are some best practices for implementing effective user onboarding strategies:

Standardize the Onboarding Process: Develop a list of steps that should be taken at the onset of the employee’s work, which are: making an account for the new employee and setting its parameters, training an employee in security measures, and issuing the tools or materials necessary for the work.
Automate Onboarding Tasks: The idea is to automate and create templates for onboarding so that there are fewer opportunities for errors and so that everyone is familiar with the company’s processes.
Provide Comprehensive Security Training: It is also necessary to ensure all the new users are trained on security awareness to prevent; passwords, phishing, how to report incidents among others.
Implement Just-in-Time Access Provisioning: Users should be provided with the least privileges as possible for them to perform their duties and responsibilities and any privileges above the job description should be provided on as and when basis.
Integrate Onboarding with HR Processes: The user onboarding should be connected to the organization’s human resource practices, especially to the newly recruited employees to allow easy coordination and flow of information.
Monitor and Audit the Onboarding Process: It is also important to carry out time to time checkups and review of the user onboarding process so that you are aware of the weak points and at the same time ensure that no step is missed.

Properly onboarding the users you can set the right foundation for the further appropriate User Lifecycle Management, exclude the security breaches, and guarantee that new members contribute to the company’s cybersecurity in the best way possible.

Policies on User Deactivation and Account Cancellation

User onboarding is a significant process, offboarding is equally important to maintain the organization’s security standards. The strategies employed in user offboarding and account termination are essential in preventing security issues such as break-ins, unauthorized access among other incidences. Here are some best practices to consider:

Automate the Offboarding Process: Develop an off-boarding plan for users, which would be useful for outlining the measures to be taken while off-boarding the user and such steps would involve deactivation of the account, revoking of access and deletion of data.
Revoke Access Privileges Immediately: If an employee is discharged or moves to another department, do not think twice in revoking all the access privileges of the said employee to prevent negative actions towards the company’s information technology systems.
Secure and Remove User Data: All the data which belongs to the user, documents, emails and any other valuable assets should be deleted or handed over to the rightful owner if the employee is dismissed.
Maintain Detailed Offboarding Records: Make sure that proper documentation of the offboarding process is done, especially the date of termination, actions that have been taken and persons involved. This documentation can be useful in the case when the security is breached or when some legal questions appear.
Conduct Exit Interviews: Preferably, one may have to administer a survey to the employees who are exiting to determine the reasons for their action and whether there are any security concerns that should be dealt with.
Review and Update Offboarding Policies: Offboarding policies should be reviewed and updated from time to time to suit the security status of your organization and best practice in the market.

That is why the information on user offboarding and account termination provided in this guide should be followed to decrease the risks of security threats, data leakage, and other issues that can be connected with uncontrolled user accounts and their permissions.

Conclusion

User Lifecycle Management is a component of cybersecurity strategy. Thus, using the elements stated in this article, knowing about the stages of the ULM, including it into the general security strategy and following the guidelines connected to the user access management, onboarding, and offboarding, you can enhance the security of the valuable assets and information in your organization.

What one should understand is that the primary goal of ULM is to be alive, to monitor the users’ actions, to reconsider the access rights, as well as the policies and the procedures in order to prevent new threats, and new changes in the IT environment.

Experience our User Lifecycle Management solution now for free and it shall be the start of truly secure organization.