According to a Stanford University study, 88% of data breaches are caused by human error. As well-intentioned and capable as employees may be, everyone makes mistakes. However, human error can be costly when it leaves your business vulnerable to a data breach. That’s why it’s important to conduct regular user access reviews to minimize employee access to critical data.
User access reviews help prevent data breaches and help businesses avoid the costly consequences of such breaches. Access reviews can also help you maintain a strong risk management posture and uphold compliance as part of your GRC program. This is your guide to user access reviews and how to perform them effectively.
What are user access reviews?
A user access review is an internal review or audit of the users who have access to your internal systems and data, including employees, contractors, and partners. User access reviews can also be called entitlement reviews, account attestations, or account recertifications. The goal of an access review is to check what databases, applications, and other resources these individuals have access to and ensure that they only have access to the items they need to do their job.
This process involves giving each person as minimal access to the organization's data as possible. Known as the principle of least privilege, this minimizes the impact if and when a team member's log-in credentials are compromised.
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Importance of user access reviews
Every employee, contractor, or service provider you work with provides an opening that a hacker could use to get into your systems. Some common ways your users can provide bad actors access is by:
- Clicking on a phishing link
- Writing down their password that someone sees or takes
- Using a password that’s not complex enough
The best way to lower your organization’s risk from these types of mistakes is to minimize each user’s access. This makes it so that if a hacker does gain access to your systems, their impact on your organization and its data would be minimal.
How user access reviews meet compliance standards
Many of the security frameworks used by organizations emphasize the importance of user access reviews and include access management controls within their requirements or guidelines. These frameworks include:
- SOC 1
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- HIPAA
- PCI DSS
- SOX
- NIST 800-53
- NIST CSF
- FTC Safeguards Rule
- NYDFS NYCRR 500
- Cyber Essentials
- CMMC
- CIS
- CJIS
User access controls are required for some of these frameworks, while others provide broader guidance on minimizing internal users’ access and reducing the impact of unauthorized access. If your organization is legally required to adhere to any of these frameworks, implementing user access controls is mandatory.
Key steps in the user access review process
Now we’ll dive into the steps to follow in your user access review process:
1. Identify critical systems
Certain portions of your infrastructure are highly confidential, sensitive, and core to your business — these are things like proprietary code, customer contact information, and payment data. Identify which of your organization's systems, tools, and datasets need the highest level of security and who within your organization owns those elements and clarify their responsibilities.
2. Review user access
Next, look at each user and examine which elements of your ecosystem they have access to. Consider each user’s responsibilities to determine what data, applications, and other elements they need to do their job. Collaborate with department heads, team leaders, or others to understand which users need access to which systems to effectively do their jobs.
3. Adjust access as needed
After determining each user’s access needs, compare this to their current access status. Do their credentials give them access to parts of your system they don’t need? Remove user’s access to the portions of your ecosystem they don’t need. In this process, also look for users who should be removed altogether — such as employees or contractors who are no longer with the business.
4. Verify access changes have been made
After you’ve determined what access changes need to be made, keep track of these changes and monitor them via your access control platform to make sure the changes remain intact and that access isn’t restored.
5. Report and re-evaluate
Conduct these reviews at a regular cadence to look for any red flags, review access changes, and ensure that every user has the least access possible. With each user access review, prepare a report that documents the changes that were made, allowing for transparency among stakeholders.
Common challenges and solutions
While user access reviews are a vital part of securing your organization, this process can create some challenges. Here are some challenges that organizations often face when conducting access reviews and some solutions to those challenges:
- Balancing productivity with security: User access control is a balancing act to ensure you grant each user the exact access needed to get their work done. Be sure to get an understanding of each user’s needs to create an effective user access review process.
- Software integrations: Access reviews can be difficult if your control platform can’t integrate with the other systems and software you use. Invest in software tools that align with your current ecosystem to make access reviews as easy as possible.
- Compliance needs: Since access reviews are required for many of the compliance frameworks your organization may adhere to, it’s important to work with your compliance team to understand what’s required and implement the right controls.
Automate your user access reviews
Automation can make managing your access reviews easy, more reliable, and cost-effective. An efficient tool for automated user access reviews will have productivity and reliability features such as:
- Integration capabilities to connect to your system and tools.
- Alerts to notify you of user access changes.
- Control mapping to ensure your access reviews policies meet the standards for compliance.
- Collaboration features that allow you to assign and track tasks.
- An interface that stakeholders can access to improve transparency.
Vanta’s Access Reviews solution automates and accelerates the access review process. Say goodbye to costly manual reviews and the risk of misused credentials. Take a tour of the solution or request a demo to learn more.
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Risk
User access reviews: A step-by-step guide
Looking to upgrade to continuous, automated GRC and get visibility across your entire program?
According to a Stanford University study, 88% of data breaches are caused by human error. As well-intentioned and capable as employees may be, everyone makes mistakes. However, human error can be costly when it leaves your business vulnerable to a data breach. That’s why it’s important to conduct regular user access reviews to minimize employee access to critical data.
User access reviews help prevent data breaches and help businesses avoid the costly consequences of such breaches. Access reviews can also help you maintain a strong risk management posture and uphold compliance as part of your GRC program. This is your guide to user access reviews and how to perform them effectively.
What are user access reviews?
A user access review is an internal review or audit of the users who have access to your internal systems and data, including employees, contractors, and partners. User access reviews can also be called entitlement reviews, account attestations, or account recertifications. The goal of an access review is to check what databases, applications, and other resources these individuals have access to and ensure that they only have access to the items they need to do their job.
This process involves giving each person as minimal access to the organization's data as possible. Known as the principle of least privilege, this minimizes the impact if and when a team member's log-in credentials are compromised.
{{cta_withimage1="/cta-blocks"}}
Importance of user access reviews
Every employee, contractor, or service provider you work with provides an opening that a hacker could use to get into your systems. Some common ways your users can provide bad actors access is by:
- Clicking on a phishing link
- Writing down their password that someone sees or takes
- Using a password that’s not complex enough
The best way to lower your organization’s risk from these types of mistakes is to minimize each user’s access. This makes it so that if a hacker does gain access to your systems, their impact on your organization and its data would be minimal.
How user access reviews meet compliance standards
Many of the security frameworks used by organizations emphasize the importance of user access reviews and include access management controls within their requirements or guidelines. These frameworks include:
- SOC 1
- SOC 2
- ISO 27001
- GDPR
- HIPAA
- PCI DSS
- SOX
- NIST 800-53
- NIST CSF
- FTC Safeguards Rule
- NYDFS NYCRR 500
- Cyber Essentials
- CMMC
- CIS
- CJIS
User access controls are required for some of these frameworks, while others provide broader guidance on minimizing internal users’ access and reducing the impact of unauthorized access. If your organization is legally required to adhere to any of these frameworks, implementing user access controls is mandatory.
Key steps in the user access review process
Now we’ll dive into the steps to follow in your user access review process:
1. Identify critical systems
Certain portions of your infrastructure are highly confidential, sensitive, and core to your business — these are things like proprietary code, customer contact information, and payment data. Identify which of your organization's systems, tools, and datasets need the highest level of security and who within your organization owns those elements and clarify their responsibilities.
2. Review user access
Next, look at each user and examine which elements of your ecosystem they have access to. Consider each user’s responsibilities to determine what data, applications, and other elements they need to do their job. Collaborate with department heads, team leaders, or others to understand which users need access to which systems to effectively do their jobs.
3. Adjust access as needed
After determining each user’s access needs, compare this to their current access status. Do their credentials give them access to parts of your system they don’t need? Remove user’s access to the portions of your ecosystem they don’t need. In this process, also look for users who should be removed altogether — such as employees or contractors who are no longer with the business.
4. Verify access changes have been made
After you’ve determined what access changes need to be made, keep track of these changes and monitor them via your access control platform to make sure the changes remain intact and that access isn’t restored.
5. Report and re-evaluate
Conduct these reviews at a regular cadence to look for any red flags, review access changes, and ensure that every user has the least access possible. With each user access review, prepare a report that documents the changes that were made, allowing for transparency among stakeholders.
Common challenges and solutions
While user access reviews are a vital part of securing your organization, this process can create some challenges. Here are some challenges that organizations often face when conducting access reviews and some solutions to those challenges:
- Balancing productivity with security: User access control is a balancing act to ensure you grant each user the exact access needed to get their work done. Be sure to get an understanding of each user’s needs to create an effective user access review process.
- Software integrations: Access reviews can be difficult if your control platform can’t integrate with the other systems and software you use. Invest in software tools that align with your current ecosystem to make access reviews as easy as possible.
- Compliance needs: Since access reviews are required for many of the compliance frameworks your organization may adhere to, it’s important to work with your compliance team to understand what’s required and implement the right controls.
Automate your user access reviews
Automation can make managing your access reviews easy, more reliable, and cost-effective. An efficient tool for automated user access reviews will have productivity and reliability features such as:
- Integration capabilities to connect to your system and tools.
- Alerts to notify you of user access changes.
- Control mapping to ensure your access reviews policies meet the standards for compliance.
- Collaboration features that allow you to assign and track tasks.
- An interface that stakeholders can access to improve transparency.
Vanta’s Access Reviews solution automates and accelerates the access review process. Say goodbye to costly manual reviews and the risk of misused credentials. Take a tour of the solution or request a demo to learn more.
{{cta_testimonial6="/cta-blocks"}}
| Role: | GRC responsibilities: |
|---|---|
| Board of directors | Central to the overarching GRC strategy, this group sets the direction for the compliance strategy. They determine which standards and regulations are necessary for compliance and align the GRC strategy with business objectives. |
| Chief financial officer | Primary responsibility for the success of the GRC program and for reporting results to the board. |
| Operations managers from relevant departments | This group owns processes. They are responsible for the success and direction of risk management and compliance within their departments. |
| Representatives from relevant departments | These are the activity owners. These team members are responsible for carrying out specific compliance and risk management tasks within their departments and for integrating these tasks into their workflows. |
| Contract managers from relevant department | These team members are responsible for managing interactions with vendors and other third parties in their department to ensure all risk management and compliance measures are being taken. |
| Chief information security officer (CISO) | Defines the organization’s information security policy, designs risk and vulnerability assessments, and develops information security policies. |
| Data protection officer (DPO) or legal counsel | Develops goals for data privacy based on legal regulations and other compliance needs, designs and implements privacy policies and practices, and assesses these practices for effectiveness. |
| GRC lead | Responsible for overseeing the execution of the GRC program in collaboration with the executive team as well as maintaining the organization’s library of security controls. |
| Cybersecurity analyst(s) | Implements and monitors cybersecurity measures that are in line with the GRC program and business objectives. |
| Compliance analyst(s) | Monitors the organization’s compliance with all regulations and standards necessary, identifies any compliance gaps, and works to mitigate them. |
| Risk analyst(s) | Carries out the risk management program for the organization and serves as a resource for risk management across various departments, including identifying, mitigating, and monitoring risks. |
| IT security specialist(s) | Implements security controls within the IT system in coordination with the cybersecurity analyst(s). |
Explore more GRC articles
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Implementing a GRC program
Optimizing a GRC program
Governance
Risk
Compliance
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