SharePoint makes collaboration and sharing exceedingly easy — which can put sensitive and regulated content at risk. Accordingly, administrators need to put guardrails in place that facilitate appropriate sharing and prevent data leakage. In SharePoint Online, the primary way for a user to grant access to resources is to share an access link with other people.

In today’s digitized world, the heart of any organization’s IT infrastructure is arguably its database systems. Databases host a wide range of information, from sensitive customer data to proprietary business intelligence — which makes them a top target for cyberattacks. As a database administrator (DBA), you need a solid grasp of database security to protect your organization’s databases from downtime and data breaches.

Every organization faces data security threats, which become more complex when integrating technologies like cloud computing or hybrid working options. That’s why it is critical to implement robust data protection to safeguard critical assets such as intellectual property, personally identifiable information, and sensitive financial data. This challenge is further augmented by the growing number of regulations imposed by governmental and industry bodies.

This article explains what IGA is and the benefits it offers. It also clears up some misconceptions about IGA and offers guidance about what to look for when assessing candidate IGA solutions.

“Never trust; always verify.” That’s the philosophy that drives the Zero Trust model, and it represents a major shift from the previous motto: “Trust but verify.” As threat actors have become more sophisticated, organizations have shifted their security frameworks away from a network-centric model and toward an identity-first model. Zero Trust assumes that every attempt to access an organization’s digital assets is from a threat actor until it can be proven otherwise.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) helps organizations implement best practices across their operations, including cybersecurity. In particular, NIST password guidelines outlines are considered the gold standard for solid password creation and management policies.

One of the most common ways for attackers to slip into a corporate network is by compromising the username and password of a legitimate user account. Usernames are typically trivial to guess because they follow an established standard in a given organization, such as FirstnameLastname@domain.com. Unfortunately, compromising basic passwords is also surprisingly easy for threat actors today. For example, they can run a program that tries out various potential passwords for a particular user account.

Identity theft is a concern for everyone living in the digital age. By stealing someone’s identity, a criminal can gain access to their credit cards and financial accounts or apply for credit using the victim’s identity. The compromise of your identity can lead to numerous troubling circumstances. Cybercriminals have learned to leverage identity theft to access vast amounts of personal and sensitive information within digital enterprises.

Gartner listed identity threat detection and response (ITDR) among its top security and risk management trends for 2022 and beyond — and study after study keeps verifying the importance of an effective ITDR strategy. For example, the Identity Defined Security Alliance (IDSA) revealed that more than 90% of the organizations it surveyed suffered an identity-related attack in 2023, and a 2024 IBM report found that attacks using stolen credentials increased by 71% year over year.

Modern IT infrastructure is comprised of various interconnected network components that make communication and resource sharing possible throughout your organization. Whether securing sensitive data, facilitating collaboration, or simply ensuring uninterrupted access, a network of devices is at play—and the elements of these devices are critical to a business’s successful operation.