Tag: cybersecurity

Protecting IT Systems: Why MFA is Essential for the Security of Tech Businesses

While the share of employees working remotely worldwide has increased significantly in recent years, to 28% in 2023, IT has the highest share of employees working primarily remotely by industry, with 67% of employees reporting working remotely.

This means that the IT industry has unique security challenges that need to be addressed by a strong security solution that protects sensitive systems in IT companies. That’s where Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) comes in.

MFA adds an extra layer of safety for critical systems, factoring in risk context to prevent unauthorized access and secure sensitive data. As an enterprise identity and access management (IAM) solution, Akku brings you a robust MFA module that you can roll out quickly and cost-effectively. 

Here’s how Akku MFA improves security for IT businesses…

Securing Development Environments 

Development environments – used for coding, testing, and software development – are high-risk areas. If not properly safeguarded, they are potential focal points for data breaches and attacks.

Akku secures these environments, as well as associated cloud platforms and repositories, through multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA can help prevent the impersonation of authorized users through credential misuse.

Akku MFA is also equipped with adaptive MFA, which flags unusual login attempts to trigger an intelligent step-up authentication process. This requires the entry of additional authentication factors as needed before granting access and works on any authentication point, including remote desktops. Since it doesn’t blindly demand an additional authentication factor for every login attempt, it reduces login fatigue while securing these critical systems.

As a result, Akku MFA:

  • Protects Intellectual Property by keeping unwanted users away from sensitive development environments. This prevents project data from falling into the wrong hands.
  • Prevents Data Breaches by implementing multiple forms of verification as needed, preventing unauthorized login.
  • Improves Internal Team Security by restricting access to verified team members alone.

In addition, Akku MFA seamlessly integrates with all commonly used development tools, making access security easy and maximizing productivity.

Safeguarding Admin Access to Critical Systems

System administrators require blanket access to various vital systems and confidential information. This is essential for productivity and efficient operations. On the other hand, this means that misuse of admin access can pose a serious security risk.

Without proper security measures, stolen passwords or insider threats can lead to unauthorized access, data leaks, and system problems. A strong authentication system helps confirm identities and block unauthorized entry.

Akku MFA introduces an additional layer of security through multi-factor authentication and adaptive MFA, which dramatically reduce the risk of impersonation and credential misuse. This ensures that even if passwords are lost or compromised, only authorized administrators can access these critical internal systems.

Akku MFA can:

  • Prevent Unauthorized Admin Access ensuring only fully verified admins control critical systems, sharply reducing hacking risks and unauthorized access.
  • Reduce Insider Threats by reducing the risk of intra-team credential theft and misuse.
  • Strengthen Network Security by safeguarding critical admin access points, thereby minimizing the risk of cyberattacks and data breaches.

Akku MFA can integrate with multiple major tools and platforms, making it an ideal security solution for managing all aspects of mission-critical tech systems.

 

By implementing MFA, your IT businesses can strengthen access security, protect critical systems, and stay ahead of evolving cyber threats. And by choosing Akku MFA, you benefit from seamless integration, adaptive authentication, and a comprehensive authentication factors library. Don’t wait for a security breach – take control now.

The Vital Role of IAM in the Top 5 Cybersecurity Trends for 2025

With more cyber threats emerging on a daily basis, the world of cybersecurity needs to evolve fast to suit. As we enter 2025, here are the top trends shaping the industry, and how IAMs impact each.

1. AI-Driven Cybersecurity

AI is set to revolutionize cybersecurity because it can detect threats in real time. Analyzing huge amounts of data in a split second, AI-based systems can identify anomalies and predict probable risks. They take proactive measures to safeguard digital environments.

Since AI is always learning from new threats, its ability to counter sophisticated cyberattacks is also constantly improving.

Akku MFA uses AI-driven anomaly detection and step-up authentication to deliver adaptive authentication. This achieves the right balance between security and ease of access.

2. Zero Trust Security

Zero Trust Architecture removes implicit trust from access authentication. Users and devices should not be granted access privileges by default. Instead, a policy of minimum access privilege should be followed. 

Strong IAMs are built on a foundation of Zero Trust principles. Strict access controls are laid down and followed automatically. These rules could be based on user identity, role or context.

You can maintain tight control over access permissions to move towards a zero trust security strategy with Akku User Lifecycle Manager. This is enforced through granular access controls, continuous authentication, and automated access deprovisioning.

3. Passwordless Authentication

Biometric systems and other authentication methods are replacing traditional passwords, improving security and user experience alike by reducing dependency on weak or reused passwords.

Advanced IAM solutions like Akku Password Manager and Akku MFA enable passwordless authentication for seamless and efficient user access.

By removing password vulnerabilities, businesses reduce risks like phishing and credential theft. Akku supports passwordless login, streamlines security, and helps organizations meet 2025’s cybersecurity demands more effectively.

4. Stricter Data Privacy Regulations

With increasing regulatory scrutiny, organizations must adopt stronger security measures. IAM solutions are essential for ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations.

Akku Access Manager enforces policies to prevent unauthorized access and maintains detailed audit logs for reporting.

It does so by letting you apply access restrictions based on IP address, device, location, and time of access. Akku helps businesses stay compliant while strengthening data protection in a rapidly evolving landscape.

5. Critical Infrastructure Security

Essential services like energy and healthcare are prime targets for cyberattacks. IAM solutions help protect these industries by enforcing strict controls and monitoring system access.

Akku SSO & IdP, Akku Access Manager and Akku MFA lay down privilege guidelines and ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive systems, minimizing the risk of both insider and external threats.

Akku Cloud Directory, Password Manager, and User Lifecycle Manager enable organizations in these critical industries to secure their user identities and streamline access management, providing comprehensive essential infrastructure security.

 

By investing in the latest IAM technology, organizations can easily cope with the challenges of 2025 and safeguard their valuable assets. Reach out to our team to learn more about the cybersecurity trends for 2025 and how Akku can help you address these new challenges and opportunities.

The AI Revolution: Transforming Cybersecurity

Author: Dinesh

Reading Time: 3 mins

Any conversation you tune in to these days – be it related to business, entertainment, or technology – connects back to artificial intelligence in some way. The advances in natural language processing in the last year or two have made it even easier for laypeople to engage with the tech, and beyond research, writing, and design, the AI revolution has well and truly arrived in cybersecurity technology too.

 

 

Here’s a few ways that AI is impacting the world of cybersecurity management.

User behavior tracking

AI-powered IAMs can use user behavior analytics to identify ‘normal’ user behavior patterns and detect deviations or anomalies. AI algorithms undertake continuous analysis of user activity to identify baseline patterns and trends. On this basis, they can flag unusual activity such as unusual login locations or times. As these anomalies may indicate account compromise or fraud, this advance warning lets companies respond promptly.

Threat detection

Using AI in identity and access management, you can automatically analyze significant volumes of threat intelligence data to identify anomalous behavior or patterns. You can even integrate with threat intelligence feeds for real-time security information and threat detection.

By analyzing data such as user behavior, network traffic and logs, AI-powered systems can learn and understand normal user behavior. They are thus able to detect deviations from this norm. The cybersecurity solution can flag suspicious access, fraudulent activity or account compromise, and AI-powered cybersecurity can be trained to block unauthorized access.

Through machine learning, AI in cybersecurity and AI in network security can identify potential vulnerabilities before they’re exploited. This form of proactive threat detection helps businesses better protect their systems. By analyzing code patterns, behavior, and other indicators of compromise, malware detection improves in terms of speed and accuracy.

Intelligent identity and access management

An AI PAM (Privileged Access Management) experience is enhanced by the AI-powered security identity management solution. By monitoring and analyzing privileged user activity, the tool can recommend least privilege principles. This reduces the risk of privilege abuse and insider threats. With contextual information such as user roles, locations, and networks, the tool can make more informed decisions pertaining to access control. Dynamic access management helps businesses enforce highly specific access policies. You can adapt access privileges based on circumstance. 

Innovative and adaptive authentication management

With AI-powered IAM systems, you can implement more secure and user-friendly authentication methods, such as behavioral, voice-based, or risk-based authentication. Based on user behavior and device information, AI algorithms can assess risk levels in real-time. This way, you can enable adaptive authentication. The level of security and AI authentication needed for the specific use case and device access varies based on the perceived risk. IAM AI thus balances security and user convenience.

Automated IT support

Through AI-driven IAMs, you can automate user provisioning and de-provisioning processes based on defined policies. By streamlining the identity lifecycle in this way, you reduce the burden on IT administrative staff through AI business process automation. AI is also ‘always on’, and provides automated IT solutions and continuous user activity monitoring. AI monitors access controls and security events, based on which it provides risk assessment and adaptive security measures. This frees up your IT cybersecurity team from such regular monitoring activities and helps improve organization efficiency.

 

Looking at streamlining cybersecurity identity management? AI and cybersecurity is a complex but interesting field. Talk to our team of experts to learn more about AI in cybersecurity and IAM systems.

Security isn’t a one-time investment: 3 key areas where most organizations fail

Your management team says that the time has come to invest in your organization’s cybersecurity. Your operations team agrees and says they are committed to security. Your IT team says that an IAM would help to secure your data and application, and identifies customizable IAM solutions, such as Akku, for investment.

So far, so good. But does that complete the job from your team’s end?

Even if your organization’s management and users believe that they are totally committed to improving cybersecurity, many of our recent IAM implementations have brought up some interesting issues of organization productivity.

Low priority on training

Many corporates believe that their employees – young, apparently tech-savvy, living in metropolitan areas – are sufficiently aware of all necessary cybersecurity measures. They believe that their teams are equipped to set up strong passwords, manage their own multi-factor authentication, avoid phishing attacks and browse through only secure web pages.

Some businesses, especially very large enterprises, do understand that cybersecurity training is necessary. However, others (regardless of size) often don’t feel it’s important for workers to take time out from their regular routines to focus on security. This is a prioritization issue, not one of budgets or resources. It can result in a number of security issues, including in terms of secure access to applications and data. No matter how technologically aware your team is, no one knows everything. It’s important to keep your learners up-to-date with regular cybersecurity training.

Fear of adoption

For a simple example, consider single sign-on (SSO). Single sign-on is an efficient way to log on to multiple applications. Using 2FA or MFA (two-factor or multi-factor authentication), single sign-on is secure as well as easy. However, if your team has never used such tech before, it can be bewildering. In our experience, 75-80% of corporate users don’t know how to use SSO without training. Post implementation of Akku, our team has occasionally offered training on how to use SSO and multi-factor authentication in the past. 

When we speak to our customers, we find that in many cases, fear of adoption is a bigger hurdle than cost of implementation or features provided by the IAM. They believe that their workers simply don’t know how to use MFA, and that it’s too much effort to provide regular updates and training to fix this gap.

In our experience, fear of adoption prevents more investments in cybersecurity applications than budget or other concerns.

Prioritizing productivity over security

While Akku or other IAM solutions secure access to applications and data, there is a certain amount of involvement needed from your IT team. A classic example is the password change self-service functionality. This functionality allows your users to manage, update and change their own passwords. 

At Akku, our policy is against self-service for password management. This is an intentional choice as it risks allowing users to set weak security questions or repeat common passwords used in other personal accounts. This, further, risks hacking through social engineering or credential stuffing attacks. In addition, when users know that they can reset their passwords at any time, they feel that their responsibility to secure their account and credentials is not as urgent. When they have to disturb their IT administrator every time they forget their password, this feels like a much more serious problem!

However, centralization of password management is inefficient for IT admin teams. In our experience, around 0.2% of users forget their passwords, every day. For an enterprise of 5,000 users, that results in upto 10 password reset requests, every day. As a result, some organizations tend to prioritize team efficiency or productivity over cybersecurity, by allowing users to manage their own passwords.

This raises the question: are you prioritizing your cybersecurity or team productivity? At the end of the day, you are responsible for your own cybersecurity. Taking the decision to invest in Akku or any other security infrastructure is an important step, but you need to keep the focus on cybersecurity on an ongoing basis. 

Security is a long term commitment, not addressed by a single investment. Talk to our team today for a holistic consultation on the next steps towards a more secure organization.

4+1 WAYS THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IS NAVIGATING THE NEW NORMAL

The manufacturing industry took a big hit at the start of the pandemic-imposed lockdown, mainly due to two reasons. Firstly, most manufacturing units require workers to be on-site and remote working was not an option, unlike certain other sectors. This meant that manufacturing came to a complete stop, at least until they were allowed to reopen with several regulations in late April. Secondly, in many manufacturing sectors, the demand went down due to the slowing down of overall economic activity.

While times have continued to be challenging over the past months, here’s how manufacturing companies are changing their approach to cope with the new normal:

Adopting automation

Before the pandemic, most manufacturing companies relied heavily on manual activities and intervention at every step of the manufacturing and distribution process. Today, wherever possible, companies are minimizing manual intervention to enable social distancing and create safer workspaces for employees and workers.

Automation and other digital solutions that help workers collaborate better also improve the speed of manufacturing, making up for months of lost time, work, and revenue. What’s more, automation can also improve production efficiency by 3-5% and increase the global manufacturing output by 1.3 trillion USD.

Rethinking the supply chain

A smooth and seamless supply chain is crucial to the success of a manufacturing company as it prevents bottlenecks, prevents the accumulation of manufactured goods, and reaches customers/end-users without delay. All of this, unfortunately, were affected during the pandemic.

To tackle this issue, manufacturing companies are building more avenues through which their goods can reach their end-users. For example, companies like Frito-Lay, PepsiCo, and Kraft Heinz have introduced direct-to-consumer sites, to shorten or even eliminate the long supply chain.

Undertaking contract manufacturing

With import and export being severely affected and international transport still limited post the COVID-19 outbreak, how are manufacturing companies delivering their products across borders? Through increased collaborative efforts within the industry!

Many international/overseas manufacturers have taken to local contract manufacturing to make sure their customers continue to receive products from the brands they prefer. Contract manufacturing is also helping some manufacturers diversify their company’s product offerings during this time, without having to make expensive investments. Here is an example from the pharma manufacturing sector.

Addressing immediate needs

The manufacturing industry thrives on a fine balance between demand and supply. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while supply was temporarily affected by movement restrictions, demand underwent a paradigm shift.

People were no longer buying cars – they had nowhere to go. Instead, as healthcare facilities struggled to accommodate the growing number of COVID-19 cases, the demand for ventilators and PPE shot up! Automotive companies were quick to identify the need and shift gears to supply exactly what was in demand. That’s not all – even beauty brands began making hand sanitizers! In this way, several companies have stayed profitable by repurposing existing manufacturing facilities to produce products that are in high demand or experiencing shortages during this time.

Staying innovative

Necessity is the mother of invention, but innovation is what will keep manufacturing companies thrive in the new normal!

If you are in the manufacturing industry, we have just the right tools to help you streamline your operations, so you can keep innovating without worries! Talk to us about our Business Continuity & Operational Resilience (BCOR) solution today.

Cybersecurity Trends 2020: What’s in Store

The year 2019 has been a significant one in the technology world, with several high profile cases grabbing headlines. In fact, according to a recent article by DataQuest India, there were at least four areas of interest which were highlighted this year – Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) threats, showstopper vulnerabilities like in the case of URGENT/11, speculative execution vulnerabilities such as Meltdown and Spectre, and finally the many ransomware attacks. 

As we move on to a whole new decade, it’s important to take stock of what the past decade has taught us and what the future has in store. In the cybersecurity world, experts bear past experiences in mind and routinely predict a number of innovative techniques that could be used to infiltrate security systems. Each year, different methods and new approaches are introduced or discussed, touching upon all those concerns about data protection and the challenges ahead.  Continue reading Cybersecurity Trends 2020: What’s in Store