Access Management

Access Management sometimes also referred to as ''Rights Management'' or ''Identity Management'' provides authorized users the right to use a service, while preventing access to non-authorized users. Because Access Management essentially executes policies defined in IT Security and Availability Management, these two processes will likely be responsible for defining the appropriate roles within Access Management. It is critically important that well defined interfaces between the business and Access Management are seen as vital to achieving high security standards. Typically, responsibilities of both sides are defined in a dedicated Information Security Policy. As an example, policy may specify that HR will inform Access Management in a timely fashion about employees entering or leaving the company. This should lead to having a single set of policies related to managing rights and access.

The Service Desk may be used as a means to request access to a service. This is normally done using a Service Request. The Service Desk will validate the request by checking that the requestor is valid and the request has been authorized. Once it has performed these checks it will pass the request to the appropriate team to provide access. It has become common practice for the Service Desk to be delegated the responsibility for providing access for standard services listed in the service catalog. The Service Desk will also be responsible for communicating with the user to ensure that they know that access has been granted and to ensure that they can use the service as requested.

Access Management should not only respond to requests. It is also responsible for ensuring that the rights that they have provided are being properly used. Information Security Management plays a fundamental role in detecting unauthorized access and comparing it with the rights that were provided by Access Management. Access Management may also be required to provide a record of access for specific services during forensic investigations. If a user is suspected of breaches of policy, inappropriate use of resources, or fraudulent use of data, Access Management may be required to provide evidence of dates, times and even content of that user’s access to specific services.

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