Identity and Access Management (IAM) Modernization

Cybersecurity and Digital Risk October 25, 2025
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Introduction

Identity is the new security perimeter, making modern Identity and Access Management (IAM) a cornerstone of any robust cybersecurity strategy, especially in Zero Trust environments. This course moves beyond legacy user management to focus on cutting-edge principles like adaptive authentication, privileged access management (PAM), and identity federation. Participants will gain the strategic skills to design, architect, and implement a modernized IAM ecosystem that centralizes identities, enforces context-aware access controls, and securely manages both human and machine identities across on-premises, cloud, and third-party systems.

Objectives

This program aims to provide security architects and identity professionals with the advanced strategic and technical skills necessary to modernize and architect a centralized, Zero Trust-aligned IAM framework:

Target Audience

  • Identity and Access Management Specialists.
  • Security Architects and Engineers.
  • CISO and Security Directors.
  • Compliance and Audit Professionals.
  • Cloud Security and DevOps Engineers.
  • IT Infrastructure and Operations Managers.
  • Business Analysts focused on digital transformation.

Methodology

  • Group activities designing an ABAC policy for a fictional application.
  • Case studies on major identity breaches and PAM implementation failures.
  • Hands-on exercises configuring SSO using SAML/OIDC.
  • Technical discussions comparing leading IGA and PAM vendor solutions.
  • Role-playing a presentation to executives justifying a multi-million dollar IAM modernization project.

Personal Impact

  • Expertise in designing and architecting a modern, Zero Trust IAM solution.
  • Ability to reduce the largest attack surface: compromised credentials.
  • Mastery of advanced authentication and authorization protocols.
  • Enhanced career opportunities in specialized Identity Governance roles.
  • Skills to secure automated and cloud-native workloads effectively.
  • Credibility in advising on complex federation and consolidation projects.

Organizational Impact

  • Significant reduction in breaches caused by compromised user credentials.
  • Automated compliance with regulatory access control requirements.
  • Streamlined user onboarding and offboarding, improving operational efficiency.
  • Reduced IT support costs through efficient SSO and credential management.
  • Enabling a Zero Trust security model for the entire organisation.
  • Increased security posture for high-risk privileged accounts and service accounts.

Course Outline

Unit 1: The Strategic Shift to Modern IAM

Section 1.1: IAM as the Zero Trust Core
  • Limitations of traditional, perimeter-focused IAM.
  • The role of Identity as the new control plane in a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA).
  • Defining the business value and ROI of IAM modernization.
  • Key components and phases of an IAM maturity model.
Section 1.2: Identity Governance and Administration (IGA)
  • Implementing and automating the identity lifecycle (Joiner, Mover, Leaver).
  • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC).
  • Automating access certification and recertification processes.
  • Separation of Duties (SoD) policies and monitoring.

Unit 2: Authentication and Authorization Modernization

Section 2.1: Advanced Authentication Techniques
  • Beyond Passwords: Stronger Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) methods.
  • Context-Aware and Adaptive Authentication based on risk scores.
  • Passwordless technologies (e.g., FIDO2, biometrics).
  • Authentication for high-assurance environments.
Section 2.2: Federation and Single Sign-On (SSO)
  • Deep dive into identity protocols: SAML, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect (OIDC).
  • Implementing Enterprise and Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM).
  • Securing API access using tokens and scopes.
  • Managing multiple identity providers (IdPs).

Unit 3: Privileged Access Management (PAM) Deep Dive

Section 3.1: PAM Architecture and Controls
  • Identifying and classifying privileged identities (human and machine).
  • Just-in-Time (JIT) and Just-Enough-Access (JEA) principles.
  • Vaulting, rotation, and session management for privileged credentials.
  • Monitoring and auditing privileged sessions.
Section 3.2: Securing Non-Human Identities
  • Managing API keys, secrets, and service accounts in CI/CD pipelines.
  • Credential injection techniques for DevOps and automation.
  • Securing machine-to-machine communications.
  • Cloud-native secret management services (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault).

Unit 4: Cloud and Hybrid IAM

Section 4.1: Cloud-Native IAM Architectures
  • Leveraging native cloud IAM solutions (AWS IAM, Azure AD, GCP IAM).
  • Strategies for synchronizing and consolidating identities across clouds.
  • Cloud Identity Governance and Entitlement Management (CIEM).
  • Securing serverless functions and container access.
Section 4.2: Migration and Consolidation
  • Developing an IAM modernization roadmap and migration plan.
  • Consolidating disparate, siloed identity stores.
  • Best practices for decommissioning legacy IAM systems.
  • Handling legacy application access in a modern IAM framework.

Unit 5: Identity Analytics and Future Trends

Section 5.1: Monitoring and Threat Detection
  • Identity and Access Management (IAM) data as a source for SIEM/UEBA.
  • Detecting and responding to identity-based attacks (e.g., credential stuffing).
  • User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) for continuous access monitoring.
  • Risk-based decision making for access revocation.
Section 5.2: The Future of Identity
  • Decentralized Identity and verifiable credentials.
  • Biometrics integration and privacy considerations.
  • The evolution of policy engines and centralized authorization.
  • Integration of AI/ML for automated risk scoring and access assignment.

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