What is IAM?
Identity and Access Management
The framework of policies, processes, and technologies that manages digital identities and controls what resources each identity can access across an organization's systems.
IAM is the foundation that SASE and Zero Trust architectures build upon. Every access decision in a ZTNA policy starts with 'who is this user?' answered by the identity provider (IdP). IAM encompasses user lifecycle management (provisioning, deprovisioning, role changes), authentication (verifying identity through credentials and MFA), authorization (determining what resources the identity can access), and governance (auditing access rights and certifying they remain appropriate).
In a SASE architecture, IAM integration points include SAML/OIDC federation for single sign-on, SCIM for automated user provisioning and group synchronization, and IdP risk signals that feed into adaptive access policies. When a user authenticates to the SASE platform, the identity provider supplies group memberships, role attributes, and often a risk score that the ZTNA policy engine uses to determine the level of access granted.
The most critical IAM integration for SASE is deprovisioning. When an employee departs, their access must be revoked across the SASE platform immediately. SCIM-based synchronization from the IdP ensures that disabling a user in the directory automatically revokes their ZTNA sessions, SaaS access via CASB, and VPN connectivity. Without this automation, orphaned accounts become a significant breach vector.
A security model that eliminates implicit trust based on network location, requiring continuous verification of identity, device posture, and context for every access request.
An authentication method requiring two or more independent verification factors (something you know, have, or are) to prove identity before granting access.
A security discipline and set of tools that control, monitor, and audit access for accounts with elevated privileges, such as system administrators, database administrators, and service accounts.
An access model that grants users connectivity to specific applications, not networks, based on identity and device posture, verified continuously per session.
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