Access review sign off is for organizations that looking to develop and implement a robust cybersecurity plan to best protect the sensitive information they are responsible for, and above all these access reviews are an essential line of defense. Recommended to be conducted semiannually, access reviews are established to fully analyze the system access granted to users within the organization. Businesses are recommended to follow the principle of least privilege during an access review, ensuring that users only have access to the information required to complete their responsibilities. In doing so, organizations can eliminate potential vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cybercriminals looking to steal sensitive data.
Access Review Sign Off
However, who is responsible for an access review sign off? This responsibility of access review sign off falls on the shoulders of the application owner. They are responsible for ensuring that access reviews are conducted and are effective. While they can appoint delegates to help carry out the process of an access review sign off, application owners are ultimately responsible for the outcome.
When access reviews sign off are conducted properly and regularly, it is easy to determine whether the information is only being accessed by authorized users. ISACA recommends that organizations conduct access reviews as the following occur: when a new user is added and provided relevant role-based access, when a user’s employment is terminated, when a user’s role within the organization changes, when any change to the application owner is made, and at predetermined intervals. Access reviews conducted at these intervals only strengthen an organization’s cybersecurity posture and reduce common access risk scenarios.
If app owners are properly adhering to their responsibility to conduct access review sign off, organizations are better able to mitigate potential risks and eliminate the threat posed by cybercriminals. When employees are unable to access sensitive information that they do not require to complete their duties, hackers are less likely to target information through this route. It also enables organizations to identify when, and if, unusual account activity is taking place, which can signal the work of hackers trying to get around security measures.
Access reviews establish a key line of defense from these cybercriminals, making it harder for them to get at the information they are seeking. Application owners should not take their responsibility lightly. When done properly and effectively, access reviews are a powerful tool for strengthening any organization’s cybersecurity procedures.
YouAttest for Access Reviews
Tools that help organizations quantify and automate the review process for any access policy changes. YouAttest is exactly this type of tool.
YouAttest 2.0 enables an enterprise to:
- Have multiple Reviewers: Business and System Reviewers
- Integrated RBAC for access and reviews when access policy changes occur
- Automatic Delegation of Business Managers
- Auto-Scheduling of reviews
- Reminders and Status of reviews
- Automated triggers on changes on key account groups and applications
- Full Reports
With consistent access policy changes, proper access policies enforced by a tool like YouAttest, organizations can strengthen their cybersecurity to mitigate the risk of hackers gaining access to sensitive information. By implementing a comprehensive policy to manage user access, data is protected by granting access to only necessary users. Additionally, by maintaining compliance regulations, organizations are protected from incurring steep fines and damages to their reputation.
YouAttest can not only be a valuable part of both your audit toolset and your IT Security arsenal of detective weapons.
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YouAttest is the only cloud-based IGA platform that deploys in minutes via application SSO to platforms like Okta. YouAttest demonstrated how YouAttest can product Access Reviews for audits in webinar: Okta & AD Identity Audits Solved with YouAttest
