Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) is a system of managing identities and access privileges in cloud environments. It mitigates the risks associated with granting more access than necessary.

CIEM solutions assist security personnel in managing identities and the access levels users are entitled to. They also help enforce the principle of least privilege (PoLP) to cloud infrastructure and resources. All this ensures users and applications have just the right amount of access they need, nothing more and nothing less.

CIEM vs traditional IAM

Traditional identity and access management (IAM) systems provide a broad framework. They manage user identities across the enterprise, covering on-premises systems, cloud-based applications, and hybrid environments. 

IAM ensures that the right individuals have access to the right resources at the right times. Think of IAM as the gatekeeper for all your IT environments, whether they are in the cloud or on-site.

In contrast, CIEM) focuses specifically on cloud resources. It's designed to offer granular visibility and control over user entitlements in cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). 

CIEM gives you a dashboard where you can see every user's access rights and entitlements in your cloud landscape. That deep visibility helps enforce the principle of least privilege more effectively within cloud ecosystems. 

Take, for instance, a developer who only needs access to create and deploy microservices on a particular cloud platform. CIEM can continuously monitor and automatically adjust their permissions to ensure they don't have excessive rights, thereby reducing risk. 

On the other hand, IAM systems handle broader scenarios like verifying user identities, managing permissions across various IT systems, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

While IAM can manage users, applications, and services across the entire IT ecosystem, CIEM zeroes in on the cloud. It monitors user activity and access patterns in real time, detecting anomalies.

For example, if a marketing employee attempts to access a sensitive financial database, CIEM would flag this behavior and alert the security team. This kind of proactive monitoring is essential for securing dynamic, cloud-based environments.

Think of IAM as your enterprise-wide security guard that ensures every door is locked and every person is where they should be across all IT landscapes. CIEM, on the other hand, is more specialized, focusing on cloud environments, and ensuring every cloud resource is accessed appropriately and securely.

CIEM applications and benefits in corporate networks

Corporate networks have become incredibly complex. The rise of cloud computing and remote work has made it more challenging to manage who has access to what resources. CIEM addresses those challenges by ensuring that users have the minimum level of access necessary to do their jobs.

Consider how many people in your company have access to sensitive information. Maybe Susan from marketing doesn't need access to the finance department's files. Or Connor in HR doesn’t require admin privileges to the company's main database. 

Yet, without proper management, these scenarios can easily occur. CIEM helps prevent this by continuously monitoring and adjusting permissions based on real-time needs.

For example, imagine you’ve got a project team working on a confidential new product. Initially, they need access to sensitive data, but once the project ends, those permissions should be revoked. 

CIEM automates this process, ensuring that once access is no longer needed, it’s promptly removed. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access and potential data breaches.

CIEM isn’t just about removing unnecessary access; it’s also about granting the right access at the right time. Suppose there’s an unexpected system issue, and an IT specialist urgently needs admin rights to fix it. 

Instead of going through a lengthy approval process, CIEM can streamline this by providing temporary, time-bound access. After the task is completed, permissions are automatically revoked.

Traditional methods of managing permissions usually involve manual processes. This is not only time-consuming but also prone to human error. 

CIEM leverages machine learning and AI to analyze user behavior and access patterns. It can identify anomalies, such as an employee accessing a file they’ve never touched before. This proactive approach allows security teams to address potential threats before they become actual problems.

In a decentralized environment, where cloud services are spread across multiple platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, CIEM provides a unified approach to managing permissions. This centralization makes it easier to enforce the principle of least privilege across the board. 

So, whether you’re dealing with internal employees, third-party vendors, or remote workers, everyone follows the same stringent access policies.

Automated discovery and mapping of entitlements

CIEM tools play a crucial role in identifying and mapping entitlements across cloud environments. They offer comprehensive solutions for managing permissions, roles, and entitlements. These are areas that traditional Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems may not fully cover in cloud contexts.

One of the strongest features of CIEM tools is centralized visibility. These tools consolidate entitlement data from various cloud services and platforms into a single, unified view. They bring all that disparate data together, showing you exactly who has access to what, no matter where it lives.

Automated discovery is another convenient feature of CIEM solutions. These tools can automatically discover and catalog every role, user, and permission within your cloud environment. They constantly scan and update your cloud permission landscape, ensuring you don’t miss any new or changing entitlements. This automation is vital, especially in dynamic and expansive cloud settings where manual tracking would be difficult.

CIEM solutions also offer the benefit of granular mapping. They don’t just map permissions at a high level. They go deep, capturing even the subtle nuances, like conditional permissions that only kick in under certain conditions. 

For instance, if you have a policy that allows access to a database but only during business hours, CIEM tools will note that condition, giving you a complete and precise map of your entitlements.

Visualization is another powerful feature of CIEM tools. Many of them can visualize entitlement relationships. This means you can see complex connections between users, roles, resources, and permissions in a graphical format. 

Think of this visualization as a map that helps you identify issues or redundancies quickly. For example, you can spot immediately if a user has both read and write access to a sensitive bucket when they should only have read access.

Anomaly detection adds another layer of security. By understanding typical access patterns, CIEM tools can flag unusual activities. Suppose there’s a sudden escalation in a user’s permissions, or someone requests access they don’t usually need. The tool will alert you, allowing you to investigate and act swiftly. This proactive approach can make a huge difference in mitigating risks.

Risk scoring is also worth mentioning. Some CIEM solutions assign risk scores to specific entitlements based on their potential security implications. This helps you prioritize your remediation efforts. For example, if the tool identifies a high-risk entitlement granting admin access to a critical database, you know to address that immediately.

Lastly, historical analysis is a handy feature of CIEM tools. They track historical entitlement data, allowing you to review changes over time. You can understand access trends, track the evolution of entitlements, and see who had access to what at any given point. If you have an audit coming up, this historical data is invaluable for demonstrating your control over access permissions.

Continuous monitoring and assessment

By continuously monitoring and assessing your cloud infrastructure, you can ensure that permissions remain tightly controlled and appropriate for the tasks at hand.

CIEM solutions like AWS CloudTrail and Azure Monitor help to keep an eye on every action and access request. For instance, if an employee suddenly accesses a database they don't usually interact with, these tools alert you immediately. This allows you to quickly investigate and decide if that access was legitimate or a potential security threat.

You can also schedule regular audits to review and potentially revoke unnecessary permissions. Take the example of a developer who was granted temporary access to a production server for troubleshooting. Once their task is complete, you should remove that access. By reviewing these permissions weekly, you can catch any lingering privileges that are no longer needed.

Some CIEM also come with behavioral analytics baked in. Using machine learning algorithms, you can detect unusual access patterns that might indicate compromised credentials. For example, if an employee's account starts downloading large amounts of data at odd hours, this deviation from their regular behavior raises a red flag. Immediate action can then be taken to revoke access and investigate further.

Integrating CIEM tools with your incident response plan will also ensure that you address any anomalies quickly. If an alert is triggered, the incident response team is automatically notified and can take steps to mitigate any potential damage. This swift reaction reduces the risk of unauthorized access escalating into a more severe breach.

It’s equally crucial to keep up with the latest security patches and updates for your monitoring tools. This equips you to handle new threats and vulnerabilities. For example, if a new type of security threat is discovered, patching your systems promptly means your monitoring tools remain effective in identifying and mitigating that threat.

By continuously monitoring and assessing your permissions and access logs, you maintain a secure and efficient working environment that minimizes the risk of unauthorized access and potential data breaches.

Risk detection and mitigation

Network administrators have the duty of constantly checking for potential threats. Many companies overlook this, often with disastrous results. They leave the door wide open for intrusions. You can use CIEM tools to automatically flag unusual activity. For instance, a person from the HR department trying to access the server hosting your source code must trigger an alert.

Role-based access control also reduces the attack surface significantly. Each employee must have access privileges that only let them into the systems they need to work in. By defining roles meticulously you prevent unauthorized access. 

Your developers, for example, need access to the staging environment but not the production data. This compartmentalization is key. It’s not about mistrust; it’s about minimizing risk.

It is a serious security lapse for a former employee to retain access privileges for an important application. You can prevent this by conducting regular security audits. Such audits are crucial for creating a robust cloud security defense. 

Picture a house cleaning schedule but for your network permissions. Over time, roles and responsibilities change. If an employee moves from sales to customer support, their access should reflect their new role. You should routinely review what employees can access to remove outdated permissions that might be lingering.

Finally, you train your team on how to get the best out of your CIEM tools. Technology on its own can’t safeguard you. Conduct regular training sessions on the importance of least privilege, threat recognition, and reporting procedures. Use real-world scenarios to make the lessons stick.

Policy enforcement and compliance

Enforcing and ensuring compliance with your CIEM policy is crucial. First, you must regularly audit access permissions. This shouldn't be just a checkbox exercise. Look closely at who has access to what and why. 

For example, if a developer no longer needs access to the production database, you remove that access immediately. Make it a practice to review these permissions at least once every quarter.

Use automated tools to monitor access patterns. These tools alert you to any unusual activity. If an employee suddenly accesses sensitive customer data they don't typically look at, we get a notification. This allows you to act quickly to investigate and, if needed, revoke access. 

Institute clear protocols for onboarding and offboarding employees. New hires get the minimum access they need to start their job. As they take on more responsibilities, you can gradually expand their permissions, but always with checks in place. 

When someone leaves the company, revoke their access immediately. This isn't only about removing their email account; it's about ensuring they can't get into any system they previously had access to.

Encourage a culture of accountability. Regularly remind employees to flag any permissions that seem excessive. For instance, if someone in the marketing department notices they can access the engineering team's documents, they must report it. This helps you catch issues you might miss otherwise.

Finally, we document every change in access permissions. This creates a paper trail for auditing purposes. If you ever need to investigate a security incident, you know exactly who had access to what and when. This level of transparency is vital for maintaining trust and security within the company.