Rise of the Machines: A New World of Identity Governance

Back in 1984, when The Terminator and its iconic indestructible android were unleashed on the sci-fi movie landscape, it seemed like pure fantasy to think our lives and our businesses could one day be run by machines.

Fast-forward to the present, and the explosion of the internet of things (IoT) has revolutionized our daily lives, from morning conversations with Alexa about the weather and sports scores to smart-everything connected to your mobile device: lights, door locks, refrigerators, toothbrushes and so much more. The rise of the ”machines” in the form of robots, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and IoT devices also extends to the corporate infrastructure, impacting day-to-day operations, processes and controls in our connected work environments. And as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, machines, processes and ”things” are getting smarter with each and every interaction, learning behaviors, identifying anomalies and adjusting to evolving norms for improved efficiency.

Now, don’t get me wrong; we don’t need to lose sleep worrying about the future robots coming back to wreak havoc on our networks and loved ones. We do need to figure out how to protect today’s robots from cyber attacks. While not quite the sentient beings of sci-fi, they are still at risk for cyber attacks, making governing access—both to them and by them—critical to securing our data, processes and applications today. Here are three areas of focus to consider when thinking of how to manage access associated with these non-humans:

1. Governing Access to the Machines
Knowing who has access (Read more...)