Identity is no longer a back-office function or a compliance checkbox. It is your first line of defence. In today’s threat landscape, where attackers move fast and lateral movement happens in minutes, the ability to control who has access to what, when and how can make or break your response.
According to the Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, credentials remain the number one battleground in cybersecurity, with 88% of attacks against basic web applications involving the use of stolen credentials. This makes a strong Identity and Access Management (IAM) strategy critical to cyber resilience. Done right, IAM helps contain breaches early by limiting attacker movement, isolating compromised accounts and restoring secure access quickly. These capabilities not only reduce the scope and severity of an incident but also enable faster, more controlled recovery, minimising disruption to business operations.
IAM is also the bedrock of other critical security strategies. It underpins Zero Trust by enforcing least-privilege access. It enables secure remote work by adapting to dynamic user behaviour and context. It strengthens cloud environments by controlling access to sprawling resources. And it is one of the most effective lines of defence against insider threats.
If your IAM strategy hasn’t evolved with your business, it could be the weakest link in your cyber resilience chain.
Common IAM gaps that put businesses at risk
Many organisations believe their Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools are doing the job until a breach proves otherwise. The truth is legacy approaches to IAM simply weren’t built for today’s perimeter-less, fast-moving environments. When identity is treated as a set-and-forget process, it becomes a blind spot that attackers are ready to exploit.
Here are some of the most common gaps we see:
- Legacy IAM platforms
Older systems often lack integration with modern cloud and SaaS applications. They rely on static policies, have clunky user experiences, and struggle to scale with business needs, leaving critical access points poorly secured or entirely overlooked. - Lack of role-based access control (RBAC)
Without clear RBAC, access decisions become ad hoc. Staff often accumulate unnecessary privileges over time, a phenomenon known as privilege creep, significantly increasing the blast radius in the event of a compromise. - Weak or poorly enforced MFA
Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is only as strong as its implementation. When critical systems aren’t covered or users are allowed to bypass MFA for convenience, it creates exploitable openings that undermine your entire security posture. - Inconsistent user provisioning and deprovisioning
Manual, fragmented processes mean access isn’t updated as quickly as people change roles or leave the business. Shadow accounts and orphaned credentials linger in the system, waiting to be misused. - No visibility or audit trail
When you can’t answer who accessed what, when, and why, you’re operating in the dark. A clear audit trail provides visibility so that small incidents don’t become major investigations, costing time, money, and trust.
And when IAM fails, the ripple effects are immediate:
- Attackers stay hidden longer through unnoticed access.
- Lateral movement is easier, amplifying breach impact.
- Recovery becomes slower and more error-prone.
- Regulators come knocking if access logs can’t be produced.
- Frustrated users create workarounds that further erode control.
When IAM is weak, resilience is undermined. It’s not just about preventing breaches, it’s about limiting their impact and recovering fast when things go wrong. And that only works when identity is treated as a living, strategic control layer and not a one-time configuration task.
If you're uncertain about any of these, it may be time to review your IAM posture.
At The Missing Link, we help organisations strengthen identity as a core element of cyber resilience. Whether you're modernising legacy systems or aligning with Zero Trust, our team supports:
- IAM audits to uncover risk, complexity, and gaps
- Implementation of modern identity platforms like Entra ID and Okta
- Strategy alignment with Zero Trust and compliance frameworks
- Tailored roadmaps that balance control with user experience
Not sure how your IAM stack is holding up?
Contact us to help you uncover gaps, reduce risk, and future-proof your approach with a modern IAM strategy that puts control back in your hands.
Stay tuned for the next part of our IAM blog series, where we’ll explore how identity is the backbone of Zero Trust and what it takes to put that into practice.
