How to eliminate orphan accounts and residual access in your company

Sometimes, no matter how many cybersecurity protocols and measures we put in place, attacks still occur that jeopardize the integrity, confidentiality, or value of a company’s data and resources. This is because, nowadays, most risks and vulnerabilities are found in security breaches that occur ‘outside’ organizations, either through external or third-party access, or through the persistence of permissions that should have been removed. In other words, many of these risks come through residual access and orphaned accounts.

It is true that zero risk does not exist; in fact, not accepting this premise is a mistake. But it is also true that effective identity and access management allows companies to prevent these risks from becoming real threats to their assets and to be prepared so that, if they do become a reality, they can minimize their impact. 

At SOFFID IAM, we believe that this should be much simpler. That is why we have developed different solutions that converge in a single, easy-to-implement platform that provides companies with constant risk control, efficient management of user accounts (human and non-human), and a unified access policy that grants permissions only when truly necessary. Protection and response to complex threats that, thanks to the convergence and flexibility of these solutions, allows for simple management for companies and even enhances operational efficiency.

What are orphan accounts and residual access?

An orphan account is simply an account that does not have an active user associated with it. When we refer to “user,” we are referring to digital identities that, in addition to specific individuals, can be non-human identities or AI agents. These orphan accounts appear due to poor account management once users end their relationship with the organization or change roles, and they pose a great danger to companies, as they can easily be used to gain unauthorized access.

Orphan accounts are related to the concept of “residual information,” from which residual access is derived. In cybersecurity, this term is used to refer to fragments or remnants of data that remain in computer systems or storage units after a deletion process, for example, of files, data, or applications.

Residual accesses come from this “residual data” and are, obviously, unwanted accesses that should not be allowed. Therefore, to eliminate residual accesses, it is important to have complete control over account lifecycles to prevent the creation of orphan accounts and other types of residual information that could be used to gain unauthorized access to company systems.

How SOFFID solution’s allows you to identify and eliminate residual accesses and orphan accounts easily and efficiently

Controlling access and eliminating orphan accounts are vital for implementing truly effective cybersecurity strategies in companies. But it is equally important that these protection and monitoring processes do not interfere with or hinder the performance and growth of organizations.

Deleting these orphan accounts should not be a manual process, nor should it depend on reviewing each system individually. With SOFFID, this control is centralized and automated from a single location. 

In addition, SOFFID solutions allow these processes to be automated and seamlessly integrated throughout the organization’s digital ecosystem, even when it comes to external access, which not only reduces the administrative burden but also increases efficiency.

SOFFID IGA is one of the pillars of SOFFID identity and access management. This solution simplifies the lifecycle management of all types of digital identities, while adapting it to current regulatory requirements and optimizing company security through the automation of account creation, modification, and deletion processes.

For organizations that implement this solution, which integrates easily into any environment (cloud, on-premises, hybrid) and legacy system, SOFFID’s identity governance and management (IGA) provides multiple benefits, including:

• Increased operational efficiency
• Guaranteed regulatory compliance
• Advanced security
• Centralized, comprehensive, real-time visibility of identities and access

Another key solution for eliminating residual accesses is SOFFID AM. This access management solution offers total control across multiple systems and environments. It allows you to unify access and protect critical resources through a role-based access control (RBAC) policy: it implements controls so that only authorized users can access what they really need to perform their job.

These, like the rest of SOFFID’s IAM solutions, converge on a single management platform and are covered by an advanced protection layer thanks to SOFFID ITDR, the real-time identity risk detection and automatic threat response solution, for example, when unauthorized access attempts occur through residual accesses.

Different solutions for different needs converge in a single scalable solution that adapts to the characteristics of each company, so that they do not need to purchase and implement various tool packages, saving time and money. Secure, efficient, and simple identity and access management is possible with SOFFID IAM. Contact us to design the solution that best suits your circumstances.