What are the three stages of an identity and access management system?

Stages of Identity and Access Management (IAM)

IAM systems ensure that the right individuals access the right resources at the right time. The three key stages are:

Provision: Creating, managing, and de-provisioning user accounts and roles to ensure access is appropriate.

Administration: Ongoing management of access rights, including updates to permissions and roles.

Enforcement: Ensuring policies are applied correctly, typically involving authentication and authorization mechanisms to verify users and grant access.

Explanation of Other Options

A. Authentication, Authorize, Validation:These terms relate to access control functions rather than the stages of an IAM system.

C. Administration, Validation, Protect:While administration is part of IAM, validation and protect are not recognized stages within IAM systems.

D. Provision, Administration, Authentication:While provision and administration are correct, authentication is part of enforcement rather than a distinct stage.

Alignment with EC-Council CISO Standards

The EC-Council CISO framework highlights the lifecycle approach to IAM, emphasizing the importance of provisioning (creating identities), administration (managing permissions), and enforcement (ensuring compliance with policies)​​​.