It’s no secret that technology is playing a much bigger role in today’s business world, especially in manufacturing. In fact, manufacturing is being confronted with many of the same challenges that have plagued the financial and medical industry for years.
These challenges include managing portfolio applications and growing user access, all while remaining vigilant in the face of cybersecurity threats. Fortunately, there are ways to successfully manage your business and provide users with access to needed data without falling prey to cybercriminals.
Before we discuss a possible offense for protecting your business, let’s identify some of the biggest challenges that many companies face as they attempt to embrace the digital age:
Digital Transformation
Cyber attacks
Third-party access
THE DOWNSIDE OF INFORMATION
Today’s business world requires that we work collectively in order to achieve a common goal; therefore, most businesses are not opposed to sharing information through digital means, either over company networks or through apps. This convenience makes the lives of supply chain partners and vendors easier, but that convenience may come at a price, possibly a very costly one. As a company grows, the need for more external access grows right along with it. Therefore, it’s imperative that all businesses implement a system that facilitates responsible app and user access permissions to help mitigate cyber attacks.
THE PRICE OF A SECURITY BREACH
In today's digital transformation age, it’s important for businesses to protect not only their interest but also the interest of their customers. We needn't only look to major corporations like Verizon to see the devastating effects that a security breach can cause. According to a data breach investigation report conducted by Brink, between 80% and 90% of all compromised data stemming from the company’s security breach negatively impacted their customers.
BUSINESS AND CUSTOMER DATA
What steps can manufacturing businesses take to thwart cyber attacks? The same steps that any business should take, utilizing SSO (single sign on) software, multifactor authentication (MFA), and other security protocols designed to protect businesses and the customers they serve.
These are the types of services offered by OneLogin, a premier cloud-based identity and access management provider. Obviously, OneLogin does not have a monopoly on the access management market, but they represent true value to their clients.
So, what should you be looking for when choosing an access management provider? Ideally, you want to work with a company that can help you save on the operational costs associated with traditional identity management. For example, when users forget their passwords, they will have to submit a ticket to an IT department to have the password reset.
This takes away time and resources from the IT department, especially for those companies with a lot of external users. Also, if users forget their password for multiple applications, an access manager can reset the user's single sign on, which, in turn, allows access to all authorized applications.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOLUTION
One of the single best things that you can do when it comes to protecting your data is utilizing a cloud-based system. This approach is ideal because it is a system that can grow with your business, meaning it’s fully scalable. Also, cloud-based systems support the diversity and complexity typical of a manufacturing business or any business for that matter.
In summation, if you’re ready to protect your company and customer data, there is no time like the present to get started. Hopefully, this article has provided with some insight into the world of SSO, MFA, and access management.
