Access management policy gaps: what IAM teams are missing

TL;DR: Access management policies only work when identification, authentication, authorization, and review processes are enforced consistently across users, systems, and privileged accounts, according to Zluri’s analysis. The harder problem is not writing policy but keeping access aligned to role changes, offboarding, and audit evidence before exceptions become exposure.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Zluri: Access Management Policy: Ensuring Compliant Access Control

By the numbers:

• 91.6% of secrets remain valid five days after the targeted organisation is notified, showing a critical gap in remediation procedures.
• Only 20% have formal processes for offboarding and revoking API keys, and even fewer have procedures for rotating them.
• 97% of NHIs carry excessive privileges, increasing unauthorised access and broadening the attack surface.

Questions worth separating out

Q: What breaks when access management policy is written but not enforced?

A: When policy is not enforced, access decisions drift away from business need.

Q: Why do standing privileges create a higher access management risk?

A: Standing privileges increase risk because they remain available outside the task that justified them.

Q: How do security teams know if access reviews are actually working?

A: Access reviews are working when they produce measurable removals, not just completed checkboxes.

Practitioner guidance

• Separate policy intent from control execution Map each policy statement to a specific enforcement point such as provisioning, authentication, authorization, review, or deactivation.
• Rebuild role-change and offboarding flows Require automatic removal or disablement of access when a user changes role, leaves a team, or exits the organisation.
• Split privileged and unprivileged identities Give administrators a daily account and a separate elevated account, then restrict the elevated account to approved tasks only.

What's in the full article

Zluri's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• Step-by-step access policy structure, including purpose, scope, audience, and control components.
• Policy language for identification, authentication, authorization, and compliance evidence.
• Operational examples for role changes, deactivation, and privileged account handling.
• Implementation guidance for JIT access, review routines, and audit logging.

👉 Read Zluri's access management policy guide for compliance and control detail →

Access management policy gaps: what IAM teams are missing?

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