Security & Compliance

  • 13 min read

User Access Review Process: 5 Key Steps To Follow

Sethu Meenakshisundaram

15th February, 2024

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In an era of rising SaaS adoption and decentralized work environments, convenient access to data and apps poses the challenge of effective management. A key defense is the implementation of a user access review process, guarding against unauthorized access and ensuring data security. This article explores the definition, benefits, challenges, and effective implementation of user access reviews.

At some point, it's highly probable that your employees have shared their login details with colleagues to facilitate specific tasks. Despite its seemingly benign nature, even a singular instance of sharing access to systems containing sensitive information can swiftly escalate into more significant issues. Compounding this concern is the revelation that a majority of data breaches stem from credential theft, phishing attacks, or inadvertent employee errors.

However, the positive news is that implementing a user access review process can effectively address this challenge. This comprehensive approach involves a series of meticulously designed steps to safeguard your data and elevate control over how access is granted and managed. Before we delve into these strategic steps, let's first gain a comprehensive understanding of the user access review process itself.

What Is User Access Review Process?

The user access review process is essentially a sequence of steps that entails periodic evaluations of the access rights granted to an organization's employees and third-party vendors. The primary objective of this process is to limit the number of individuals with access to critical company data, applications, and systems, thereby minimizing the risk of data breaches. However, the significance of the user access review process extends beyond data security. Its importance lies in several other aspects, which we will now explore.

Why Is User Access Review Process Important?

The user access review process holds significant importance in mitigating a variety of issues, serving as a crucial line of defense against potential threats. One notable example is its role in preventing costly data breaches, such as the Cash App breach of 2022. In this incident, a former employee exploited unauthorized access, downloading internal reports and causing a data leak that affected 8 million Cash App customers.

Moreover, the User Access Review process effectively addresses issues like:

1. Privilege Creep: This occurs when employees experience changes in job roles, gradually acquiring new privileges over time. The user access review process is instrumental in preventing the gradual accumulation of access to multiple systems.

2. Privilege Misuse: Involving mishandling of data or installing unapproved hardware or software, the user access review process safeguards against unauthorized actions.

3. Privilege Abuse: This occurs when user accounts are used inappropriately or fraudulently, whether through malicious intent, accidental actions, or willful ignorance of organizational policies. The user access review process proactively curbs such misuse and maintains a secure access environment.

But how does it work? Here's an overview of the process.

How Does The User Access Review Process Work?

The User Access Review Process is essential for maintaining the security and integrity of an organization's digital assets and sensitive information. This process involves systematically reviewing and evaluating users' access rights and permissions within an organization's IT systems, applications, and networks. Through consistent and thorough user access reviews, IT teams can oversee and reduce potential security risks, ensure compliance with regulatory mandates, and uphold the principle of least privilege.

To illustrate how it works, let's consider an example:

Problem: In organizations lacking a systematic and structured method, user accounts and access permissions are not subject to regular reviews and monitoring. The evaluation of access rights is inconsistent, with no established schedule or process for determining whether users have appropriate permissions. Consequently, users may accumulate unnecessary access rights over time due to changing roles, responsibilities, or projects, leading to security vulnerabilities and potential misuse of resources.

Solution: The User Access Review (UAR) process prevents such incidents by identifying and rectifying instances of overprivileged access, dormant accounts, or access rights that are no longer necessary for an individual's role. It ensures that users only have the access they need.

Several key stakeholders collaborate in the user access review process to ensure its effectiveness and alignment with the organization's security and compliance objectives. These stakeholders include the IT, security, and compliance teams. Working together, they streamline the user access review process, ensuring access rights align with business needs, security measures, and regulatory demands.

Their collaboration reinforces the organization's ability to proactively manage risks, maintain data confidentiality, and operate within a secure and compliant environment.

Let's explore the benefits of implementing a user access review process.

Key Benefits Of User Access Review Process

The User Access Review (UAR) process provides several key benefits to enhance an organization's digital environment's overall security and operational efficiency. These include:

• Helps Ensure Data Security:

The UAR process protects sensitive data from unauthorized access. For example, an employee who has changed roles might retain access to previous departmental files. Regular UAR can identify and remove such lingering access, preventing data breaches. By regularly reviewing and adjusting user access rights, the organization can maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its data.

• Enables Your Organization To Seamlessly Meet Regulatory Compliance:

Organizations must adhere to specific regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with legal requirements. The UAR process ensures compliance by regularly reviewing user access against these regulations. For instance, detecting and mitigating an employee accessing patient records without authorization in a healthcare setting. By validating that user access aligns with established regulations, the organization can avoid potential legal penalties and reputational damage, demonstrating its commitment to responsible data handling.

• Minimizes Insider Threats:

Insiders with unauthorized access pose a significant security risk. The UAR process helps detect and mitigate threats by identifying overprivileged accounts, dormant users, and unauthorized access. Promptly addressing these issues reduces the likelihood of insider misuse of data and systems. For instance, an employee gaining unauthorized access to financial systems can be promptly detected and their access revoked, mitigating the risk of financial fraud or data manipulation.

• Efficiently Allocates Resources:

Users may accumulate unnecessary access rights over time, leading to inefficiencies and increased risk. Through UAR, employees who no longer require certain privileges due to a change in job roles can have those rights revoked. This process enables IT teams to allocate resources more efficiently, ensuring users have only the necessary access rights. This prevents the allocation of unnecessary privileges, reducing the risk of human error, system misuse, and potential security vulnerabilities.

Now, let's proceed further and understand best practices to conduct user access review.

5 Steps To Conduct An Effective User Access Review

Each step in the user access review process is crucial for successfully reviewing user access rights within an organization's systems. Here's how each step contributes to the effectiveness of the process:

1. Identify User Accounts & Permissions That Needs Review

The initial phase of the user access review process focuses on identifying user accounts and associated permissions requiring a thorough review. This step is crucial for maintaining the security and integrity of an organization's systems and data.

In any organization's system, numerous user accounts are assigned specific roles and permissions based on the user's job responsibilities. However, changes in personnel, job roles, and projects can lead to discrepancies between the permissions assigned to a user and their actual job requirements.

Identifying which user accounts need review ensures that the access granted aligns with the user's current role and responsibilities. Some accounts may no longer require certain permissions, while others might need additional access due to changing roles or projects.

This proactive approach sets the foundation for a more secure and streamlined access management system, addressing potential vulnerabilities and maintaining a precise alignment between user permissions and their organizational responsibilities.

Here's a breakdown of why this step is important and how it works:

• Mitigating Security Risks: Unused or outdated permissions pose security risks. If a user's role changes without revoking old permissions, they may have unnecessary access to sensitive data or systems. Granting excessive privileges can lead to data breaches or unauthorized actions. Identifying user accounts for review is crucial in minimizing these security risks.

• Efficiency and Resource Allocation: Pinpointing specific user accounts for review enhances efficiency and resource allocation. Rather than reviewing all user accounts, the focus is directed towards those undergoing changes. This targeted approach saves time and effort, allowing the organization to allocate resources more judiciously.

• Regulatory Compliance and Auditing: Many industries require compliance with regulatory standards that mandate regular access reviews. Identifying user accounts for review ensures adherence to these regulations and maintains a record of access changes for audit purposes. This helps in compliance and enhances the organization's overall security posture.

• Transparency and Accountability: Identifying user accounts for review promotes transparency within the organization. Users know that their access is periodically evaluated, which can deter unauthorized activities. Maintaining a record of reviews also holds individuals accountable for their access-related actions, fostering a culture of accountability.

• Customized Access Management: This step allows IT teams to fine-tune access permissions based on evolving business needs. Regularly assessing user access enables the organization to adapt access controls to match the dynamic nature of job roles and responsibilities. This customization ensures that user access remains up-to-date, aligned with job roles, compliant with regulations, and tailored to the organization's evolving needs.
  
  In summary, this step is crucial for maintaining robust security, ensuring efficiency in resource allocation, complying with regulations, fostering transparency and accountability, and adapting access management to the organization's evolving requirements. It establishes a foundation for a proactive and responsive user access review process.

2. Assess User Access Based On Roles & Job Criteria

The second step of the user access review process involves evaluating users' access permissions in relation to their specific roles and responsibilities within the organization. This step ensures that users have appropriate and necessary access while minimizing the risk of unauthorized or excessive privileges.

• Role-Based Access Control:

Many organizations adopt a role-based access control model, where predefined roles determine access permissions corresponding to specific job functions or responsibilities. Assessing user access based on roles ensures that users are granted access according to their job requirements, preventing them from accessing systems or data irrelevant to their roles. Any sudden gain in access beyond their usual responsibilities may indicate suspicious activity.

• Least Privilege Principle:

The "least privilege" principle advocates giving users the minimum level of access required to perform their tasks. Assessing access based on roles ensures that users aren't granted excessive privileges, thereby reducing the attack surface and potential impact of security breaches. When access permissions align with roles, managing user access becomes streamlined, with additions or removals based on their role, simplifying processes and reducing administrative overhead.

• Hierarchy of Access Levels:

This step creates a clear hierarchy of access levels within the organization. It ensures that higher-level or more critical access is granted only to those who need it, maintaining a well-defined and controlled access structure. This hierarchical approach not only enhances security but also aids in maintaining compliance standards. The organization showcases compliance with industry standards by demonstrating that access is granted based on job functions, contributing to a controlled and secure access environment.

In summary, assessing user access based on roles and job criteria not only aligns access permissions with job responsibilities but also adheres to the least privilege principle, streamlines access management, establishes a clear hierarchy of access levels, and contributes to maintaining compliance standards, ultimately fostering a controlled and secure access environment within the organization.

3. Document & Track Changes To Access Rights Through Audit Logs 

The third step of the user access review process involves maintaining a comprehensive record of changes to user access permissions. This documentation ensures accountability, transparency, and compliance within the organization's access management framework.

• Fostering Accountability and Transparency:

By documenting and tracking changes to access rights, the organization establishes a clear record of who made what changes and when. This practice fosters accountability and transparency in access management practices. Reviewing access change logs allows the organization to identify patterns and trends, providing valuable insights to enhance access management policies and practices over time.

• Compliance with Regulatory Requirements:

Regulatory requirements often mandate the maintenance of an audit trail to demonstrate that access controls are appropriately managed and monitored. Having a detailed record of access changes helps the organization comply with these regulations during audits. Showcasing a comprehensive audit trail adds credibility to the organization's commitment to robust access management.

• Incident Response and Threat Detection:

In the event of a security breach or data leak, access change logs play a vital role in tracing the source and extent of the breach. This accelerates incident response efforts and helps control the damage by swiftly addressing unauthorized changes. Detailed access change logs are also instrumental in detecting insider threats. Unusual or unauthorized access changes by employees could indicate potential malicious intent, allowing the organization to respond promptly and effectively.

• Continuous Improvement of Access Management Practices:

Documenting and tracking changes to access rights is a critical step in complying with regulations, detecting and responding to unauthorized changes, and improving overall access management practices within the organization. The insights gained from access change logs contribute to the continuous improvement of access management policies, ensuring they remain aligned with evolving security needs.

In summary, maintaining detailed records of access changes through audit logs not only ensures accountability and transparency but also aids in compliance with regulatory requirements, accelerates incident response in the face of security breaches, detects insider threats, and supports the ongoing enhancement of access management practices within the organization.

4. Opt For An Automated Approach For Scheduled Audits of User Accounts & Entitlements

Implementing an automated process to regularly audit user accounts and access entitlements brings forth several advantages. Configure the automated system to perform audits based on predefined schedules. Decide how frequently audits will be conducted, whether they will be daily, weekly, monthly, or at other intervals. You can choose an appropriate automated audit tool or software that aligns with your organization's needs and systems. This tool should be capable of efficiently scanning and assessing user accounts and access rights.

Through automation, the organization ensures systematic and efficient reviews that contribute to enhanced security, regulatory compliance, and operational effectiveness.

By incorporating scheduled automated audits, the organization achieves:

• Efficiency: Streamlined audits that save time and resources compared to manual reviews, allowing personnel to focus on more strategic tasks.

• Accuracy: Consistent and categorical access evaluations that minimize human errors, leading to precise identification of access inconsistencies.

• Timeliness: Scheduled and automated reviews that occur without delays, maintaining up-to-date access controls.

• Continuous Monitoring: Ongoing scrutiny that promptly detects unauthorized changes or unusual access patterns, minimizing security risks.

• Risk Mitigation: Rapid identification and resolution of unauthorized access, mitigating potential breaches and insider threats.

• Compliance: Adherence to regulatory requirements through regular access reviews, avoiding non-compliance penalties.

• Data Insights: Generation of data for analysis, unveiling access usage trends, and guiding access management improvements.

• Notifications and Alerts: Automatic alerts for detected discrepancies, enabling swift corrective actions to maintain security.

• Scalability: Accommodation of growth in user accounts and access rights while maintaining audit efficiency.

• Documentation and Audit Trails: Detailed logs serve as an audit trail for compliance reporting, internal audits, and investigations.

• Resource Optimization: Allocation of human resources to strategic initiatives by reducing the need for manual audits.

• Consistency: Application of standardized procedures across audits, ensuring a uniform access management approach.

• Adaptability: Configuration to changes in user roles, access requirements, and organizational shifts, ensuring continued relevance.
  
  The organization enhances security, achieves regulatory compliance, and maintains an optimized access management process by embracing automated scheduled audits of user accounts and access entitlements.

5. Elevate Awareness Among Privileged Users Regarding Data Security & Compliance 

This step emphasizes educating and informing individuals with privileged access about their responsibilities in ensuring the security and proper handling of sensitive data and systems. This is crucial because privileged users with elevated access rights play a significant role in maintaining the organization's security posture.

• Importance:

Privileged users often have broader access to critical systems, sensitive data, and administrative controls. Their actions and decisions can significantly impact the organization's security and operations. Elevating their awareness helps ensure that they understand the potential risks associated with their level of access and the importance of adhering to security protocols.

• Roles and Responsibilities:

In the event of security incidents, privileged users should be aware of their roles and responsibilities in reporting, mitigating, and addressing breaches or vulnerabilities. This includes understanding whom to notify and how to contain potential threats. Regular communication of security updates, policy changes, and reminders to privileged users is essential. This can be achieved through email updates, newsletters, or internal communication platforms.

• Fostering a Security-Conscious Culture:

Elevating awareness among privileged users fosters a security-conscious culture within the organization. It empowers them to be proactive defenders of the organization's data and systems, reducing the likelihood of security breaches and unauthorized access. This step ensures that privileged users are aware of security best practices and actively engaged in maintaining a robust security posture.

In summary, educating privileged users about their responsibilities and keeping them informed about security updates helps establish a security-conscious culture, empowering them to proactively safeguard the organization's data and systems.

But one can face certain challenges while conducting a user access review process, so let’s go through them. This will help you understand how to effectively conduct a user access review process. 

Challenges Associated With User Access Review Process

Several aspects add to the complexity and affect the effective user access review process

• Resource-Intensive Process:

Examining user access rights and permissions is resource-intensive, especially for larger companies. The process demands considerable time and effort due to the diverse levels of access and the complexity of systems. Ensuring that the right individuals have the appropriate access requires a substantial investment in time and resources. In larger organizations, the systems' sheer size and intricacy make this task particularly challenging.

• Integration of Systems:

Seamless integration of various systems is crucial for an accurate and comprehensive user access review. However, achieving this integration can be challenging, especially when dealing with diverse organizational systems and platforms.

• User Cooperation:

Obtaining cooperation from users in providing accurate information about their access needs and changes can be a challenge. Users may not always be aware of their access requirements, and obtaining timely and accurate feedback is essential for a successful review process.

• Timely Execution:

Conducting reviews in a timely manner poses a logistical challenge, especially in rapidly changing organizational environments. Keeping up with changes in personnel, job roles, and projects requires an efficient and well-coordinated process to ensure that access reviews remain relevant and up-to-date.

• Balancing Security and Productivity:

Striking the right balance between maintaining high-security standards and ensuring user access does not hinder productivity can be a delicate challenge. Implementing strict access controls may inadvertently impede workflow efficiency, and finding the optimal balance requires careful consideration.

• Regulatory Compliance:

Adhering to regulatory compliance standards adds complexity to the user access review process. The need to demonstrate compliance with regulations often requires additional documentation and reporting, increasing the complexity of the overall process.

Recognizing and addressing these challenges is crucial for organizations to overcome hurdles in the user access review process and ensure its effectiveness in maintaining a secure and well-managed access environment.

To overcome these complexities, the best you can do as a manager is to opt for an effective access management platform to streamline your user access review process. Though several tools in that market offer user access review capabilities, the one that stands out from the rest is Zluri. What is Zluri? How does it streamline the user access review process? Here’s a quick read-through.

Automate Your User Access Review Process With Zluri

If your IT team is burdened by the manual gathering of app access data for the user review process, and you need an immediate solution, then look no further because, with Zluri, your search ends. 

Zluri is an automated identity governance and administration platform designed to assist your IT team in effortlessly identifying which users have access to which SaaS applications and data, the level of permissions they hold, and much more, thanks to its standout capabilities. Also, with visibility into accurate data points, reviewers can review access without any hassle. 

Zluri sets itself apart from competitors by offering a range of exclusive key features, including auto-remediation, report generation, AI compliance, and more. This further helps streamline the access review process. Now, let's see how, with Zluri's IGA, your IT team can automate the user access review process.

Steps for Automating User Access Review Process in Zluri

Your IT team or GRC team can effectively automate the access certification process by following these few simple steps within Zluri:

Step 1: Access the Zluri main interface and click on the' Access Certification' module.

Step 2: Choose the option 'Create New Certification.' Assign a certification name and appoint a responsible owner to oversee the review process.

Step 3: Select the' Application' option. Choose the application you intend to review and designate a reviewer (usually the app owner) responsible for assessing access to that specific application. 

Select a fallback owner/reviewer who can take over if the primary reviewer is unavailable. Reviewers will be notified through email to conduct the review. Once reviewers are selected, proceed to the next step.

Step 4: Select Users for Review. Choose the users you wish to review for the selected application. After selecting users, you can view user-related information. Specify review criteria such as user department, job title, usage, etc. Filter the criteria appropriately to facilitate informed decisions by reviewers, streamlining the review process.

Step 5: Configure Actions. Choose actions that will occur after the review. Three actions are available:

• Approved: Access remains unchanged once the reviewer approves the user access.

• Rejected: If the reviewer rejects or does not grant approval for user access, initiating a deprovisioning playbook to remove the user's access to the application becomes necessary. If the user holds access to critical applications, you can request the designated reviewer to manually perform the deprovisioning of user access. Alternatively, Zluri will automatically address the issue through the auto-remediation feature for non-critical access.

• Modify: Access is adjusted based on provided instructions. Once again, it's necessary to establish a playbook for adjusting user access.

Step 6: Schedule Actions. Optionally, set a start date and time frame for completing the review actions.

Step 7: Track Review Status. Monitor the automated access review process by clicking 'Review Status.' View pending, modified, declined, or approved reviews. This process can be repeated for multiple applications.

Zluri also allows owners to access a snapshot of the certification process status. Owners can oversee pending reviews, monitor app review status, and check assigned reviewers' progress. Reminders can be sent to reviewers who haven't completed their reviews.

Zluri presents all user access data on a single screen for 'reviewers' convenience. Reviewers can approve, modify, or decline access after verifying the data and adding relevant comments.

Upon completion, the review process status is visualized on a chart. Once the process is finalized and the owner approves the review, you can conclude the process and send reports directly to the reviewer's email.

So, why wait any longer? Schedule a demo today to witness firsthand how Zluri empowers your IT team to manage and regulate access effortlessly.

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About the author

Sethu Meenakshisundaram