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Flexibility Trap: When Customization Slows Security

The Bottom Line: Excessively individualized identity management systems endanger security. Organizations should prioritize standardization over customization to reduce complexity and security risks.

Tailored identity management systems offer organizations flexibility, but can become a security risk. Excessive customization complicates administration and increases vulnerability to cyberattacks.

Many organizations rely on comprehensive customization solutions when managing identities and access rights to meet their specific requirements. This approach initially appears attractive: every process can be optimally tailored to their own needs, every exception is taken into account.

However, practice tells a different story. Highly individualized identity management systems lead to considerable complexity. Security policies become harder to enforce, monitoring and audits become significantly more difficult. The risk of misconfigurations and security gaps increases.

Experts warn against this “flexibility trap”: too many special cases and exceptions in access management make it impossible to maintain control. A standardized foundation with only necessary customizations often proves to be the safer path.


Source: www.computerweekly.com

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