The Ongoing Importance of Identity Security for Modern Organizations

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The 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), analyzing over 22,000 security incidents and breaches, highlights trends that every security professional must consider—particularly in identity security. While flashy incident graphs may suggest system intrusions or malware dominate, a deeper look reveals that identity remains at the heart of modern enterprise security.

Identity Security Is Still Foundational

At first glance, privilege abuse accounted for only 6% of incidents. Meanwhile, system intrusions, which include malware, hacking, and exploitation, jumped to 53% of incidents. However, many of these intrusions—like phishing attacks or unauthorized credential use—are directly tied to identity security.

Even web application attacks, representing 12% of incidents, relied on stolen credentials in 88% of cases. Verizon’s definition of privilege misuse only counts malicious or unauthorized credential use, meaning the role of identity extends beyond these boundaries.

This reinforces a crucial principle: identity security must be foundational. Enterprises need converged identity security platforms that protect all identities—internal, external, human, and non-human—across on-premises and cloud applications.

Most Breaches Still Involve Identity

Identity-related vulnerabilities remain a top attack vector:

• 60% of breaches involved a human element
• Credential abuse was the initial access vector in 32% of incidents
• Third-party involvement doubled in 2025, with 30% of human-related breaches originating from external identities

Verizon emphasizes that software vendors and third-party access contribute to an expanded attack surface, making external identity security a critical priority. Enterprises that fail to secure external accounts risk ongoing exposure to breaches.

A converged identity security platform, like Saviynt Identity Cloud, ensures least-privilege access for all identities, internal and external, reducing the risk of misuse or compromise.

Generative AI and Identity Risk

Generative AI (GenAI) adoption is surging—71% of organizations report active usage, up 7% from last year. While AI improves efficiency, trend analysis, and productivity, it also introduces data governance and identity risks:

• 89% of employees use GenAI on corporate devices outside corporate oversight
• Sensitive organizational data may inadvertently be shared with public AI models, creating potential leakage to competitors
• Risks grow as GenAI adoption increases, especially for non-human identities and machine accounts accessing critical systems

Organizations must secure non-human identities and control AI-generated data access. Identity security platforms with robust machine and AI identity management capabilities are essential to mitigate these emerging threats.

The Future of Identity Security

Verizon’s DBIR underscores that identity is still the key attack surface in modern enterprises. Organizations must adopt forward-looking identity security strategies to protect human and non-human accounts, enforce least-privilege access, and maintain compliance across cloud and on-premises environments.

At Saviynt, we continue to innovate with solutions like Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM), empowering organizations to:

• Gain real-time visibility into identity risks
• Enforce policies consistently across all identities
• Secure access for humans, machines, and AI agents alike
• Prepare proactively for evolving technology threats

Identity security is no longer optional—it’s foundational to enterprise resilience in 2025 and beyond.