Strengthening Your Cybersecurity Core with SOD and IGA: Lessons from the Jaguars’ $22M Breach

Read full article here: https://claritysecurity.com/clarity-blog/lessons-from-the-jacksonville-jaguars-22-million-wake-up-call-strengthening-your-cybersecurity-core-with-better-sod-and-iga-practices/?source=nhimg

The Jacksonville Jaguars recently found themselves at the center of a staggering financial scandal. Over a four-year period, an employee allegedly stole $22 million by manipulating the team’s virtual credit card program. While shocking in scale, the real lesson lies in what this breach exposed: the absence of strong Identity Governance Administration (IGA) and Segregation of Duties (SOD) practices.

This incident isn’t just about sports, it’s a wake-up call for every organization across industries. Without the right governance, oversight, and identity controls, businesses risk opening the door to fraud, insider threats, and financial damage that could cripple operations.

Where Identity Governance Failed

At its core, IGA ensures visibility and control over identities and access privileges. It is designed to answer critical questions:

• Who has access to what?
• Why do they have that access?
• Should that access still exist?

In the Jaguars’ case, these controls weren’t enforced. Patel allegedly used his privileged access to create fraudulent transactions and manipulate financial statements without detection.

Key failures included:

• Overreliance on a single individual as the “go-to expert” for the virtual card system.
• Lack of continuous monitoring that could have flagged irregular financial activities.
• Inadequate lifecycle management of user identities, especially during times of turnover in the finance department.

A stronger IGA program complete with visibility into access rights and automated detection of anomalies, could have exposed gaps before they became multimillion-dollar losses.

Why Segregation of Duties Matters

The Jaguars’ fraud also underscores the timeless importance of SOD. This principle ensures that no single individual can execute high-risk processes from start to finish without checks and balances.

Patel allegedly exploited a system where roles were not clearly separated. With staffing turnover weakening oversight, he was able to:

• Authorize transactions,
• Execute payments, and
• Conceal fraudulent charges.

In a properly enforced SOD model, no one person should have been able to complete all these steps. The absence of role separation created an environment where insider abuse could go unchecked.

The Broader Business Lesson

The Jaguars’ case is not an isolated story. It reflects challenges every organization faces when SOD and IGA are weak:

• Fraud risk skyrockets when individuals can bypass checks.
• Turnover amplifies vulnerabilities when controls aren’t automated.
• Cybersecurity blind spots emerge when identity governance isn’t integrated with daily operations.

This incident reinforces the urgent need for:

• Regular review and strengthening of internal controls.
• Continuous monitoring of high-value systems and transactions.
• Employee training to build awareness of risks.
• A robust identity governance platform to centralize oversight.

How Clarity Helps Prevent the Next Breach

At Clarity, we believe risk prevention begins with visibility and control. Our platform addresses exactly the weaknesses exposed in the Jaguars case:

• Automated Segregation of Duties (SOD) Checks – Instantly flag conflicting entitlements before they create risk.
• 10-Minute User Access Reviews (UARs) – Accelerate reviews so teams can resolve risks without bottlenecks.
• Lifecycle-Driven Identity Governance – Ensure access is provisioned, adjusted, and revoked automatically with organizational changes.
• Continuous Monitoring – Detect anomalies in real time before fraud or misuse escalates.

The Jaguars’ story shows what happens when identity and access risks aren’t controlled. With Clarity, organizations can build the oversight needed to prevent insider threats, enforce stronger governance, and ensure SOD conflicts never fly under the radar.