Why Group-Based Permissions Are Failing Cloud Identity Governance

Read full article here: https://www.britive.com/resource/blog/group-based-permissions-and-iga-shortcomings-in-the-cloud/?utm_source=nhimg

Organizations migrating to the cloud are discovering that their traditional Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) solutions and reliance on group-based permissions are no longer effective. Instead of providing security and control, these legacy methods create dangerous visibility gaps and increase the attack surface.

Key Challenges & Risks Highlighted:

• Loss of Visibility: Using groups as collections of permissions creates a layer of abstraction that obscures who has access to what. This makes it impossible to enforce the principle of least privileged access.
• Privilege Sprawl: For operational ease, users are added to groups and accumulate unnecessary permissions over time. This "permission bloat" creates standing privileges that are a prime target for attackers.
• The "2-Dimensional Access Problem": Traditional IGA tools are built for a 1-dimensional world (a user gets a role). Cloud environments present a 2-dimensional problem: users need specific permissions (what) for specific environments (where, e.g., production vs. development). Legacy tools cannot manage this complexity.
• Audit & Compliance Failures: The opacity of group-based permissions makes access certification for audits cumbersome and unreliable, complicating efforts to prove compliance and enforce Segregation of Duty (SOD) policies.

The Business Impact

Relying on outdated IGA and group-based models in the cloud directly translates to increased security vulnerabilities, failed audits, and operational friction. The trade-off for short-term convenience is a long-term posture of high risk.

The Path Forward

This article concludes that a fundamental shift is required. To address these shortcomings, organizations must move beyond static, standing permissions and explore modern approaches like Just-in-Time (JIT) access and a Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP) model, which will be covered in the next installment of this series.