Effectively managing your cloud risks and controls is a critical part of keeping your network safe from harm, but multi-cloud environments and a changing workforce can make protecting your cloud resources challenging. In 2022, we surveyed 100 security leaders.  Using the Gartner Peer Insights Community platform, we were able to gain valuable insight regarding previous years concerns and risks in cloud security access management and compare them to more recent numbers to see how trends have changed throughout the years. 

What Is Cloud Security Access Management? 

Cloud security access management refers to the tools and policies your organization uses to control access to your cloud tools and applications. Essentially, it's how you manage who can access what cloud-based resources and when. 

With the total cost of recovery from a ransomware attack rising to $5.13 million in 2024, it should come as no surprise that creating and maintaining a robust cloud security system can help protect your organization from significant losses in the future. This system can also save your IT department time and effort by making it easier to identify and resolve threats as soon as they arise, such as rogue accounts. 

An Identity Security framework is a great example of a cloud access management strategy. IAM combines multiple different technological solutions to manage access to company resources, including cloud systems and administrative functions. 

Some common Identity Security capabilities include: 

• Enterprise Password Management (EPM): Enterprise password provides tools and processes to securely manage and store passwords. These systems ensure that employees use strong, unique passwords across different services, and they provide centralized control to prevent unauthorized access, reduce the risks of password-related breaches, and streamline the process of password resets and recoveries. 

• Identity Lifecycle Management or Joiner-Mover-Leaver Process: The critical Joiner-Mover-Leaver process (JML), often known as Identity Lifecycle Management, delineates the lifecycle of user identities within an organization. "Joiners" are new employees or users who are onboarded and granted initial access rights. "Movers" are existing employees whose roles, and therefore access rights, change due to internal transitions like promotions, departmental shifts, or other role modifications. "Leavers" are those who exit the organization, necessitating the revocation of their access to prevent potential security risks. 

• Just-In-Time Access: access grants users temporary, on-demand privileges only when needed, following extra verification or approval. Access is automatically revoked after an expiry time, or the task is completed, reducing unnecessary exposure, minimizing the attack surface, and strengthening security against insider threats and external breaches. 

• Single Sign-On (SSO): SSO streamlines the user experience by verifying user identity with only one set of credentials, reducing login fatigue. 

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): MFA requires two or more identifying factors to verify a user's identity. For example, you may need to answer a push notification on your phone after entering your username to gain access to the resources you need. 
• Built-in audit trail to streamline compliance: IAM provides a complete audit trail of history of permissions, authorization, removal, delegation and access, making compliance easier. 

One of the greatest benefits of using an IAM solution for cloud security is that it creates a centralized control hub where admins can manage access and authorization controls uniformly across your entire infrastructure. 

Risks and Concerns in Cloud Security Access Management 

Inadequate password management procedures and policies put privileged identities at risk. Many companies face the same challenges when it comes to protecting their cloud resources. Here are the top risks associated with cloud security access management today. 

1. Old-School Password Management

In 2022, 49% of teams used spreadsheets to store cloud passwords, while 75% managed application credentials this way. Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Investigation Report shows these risky practices fuel breaches while creating operational drag - teams waste 94 days remediating leaks, face ransomware-related downtime (44% of breaches), and suffer eroded productivity from broken workflows. 

Spreadsheet password management carries inherent risks. Without strong encryption, these files become single points of failure - easily compromised through service breaches or endpoint access. Their always-available nature via federated logins further increases exposure. 

Implementing an enterprise password manager establishes critical security baselines. The right solution combines ease-of-use with policy enforcement, making secure practices frictionless for employees. To drive adoption, tie tool usage to performance reviews: recognize compliant behaviors (unique passwords, proper credential storage) and address non-compliance through constructive feedback. 

While SSO improves usability, edge cases demand flexible security. A complete strategy must cover both standardized authentication and exceptional scenarios through layered controls." 

2. Enforcing Password Policies

Although 85% of respondents said they can enforce company password policies on cloud infrastructure, 70% reported they cannot remediate compromised or non-compliant passwords within 24 hours. While no specific regulation currently mandates that your organization remediate compromised passwords within that timeframe, there is growing momentum toward adopting guidance such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Special Publication 800-63B. Many sectors now require compliance with these guidelines to meet broader regulatory and security expectations 

Modern enterprises face growing risks from attacks on central identity directories. If compromised, recovery can take days, weeks, or even months without processes in place to rotate credentials within 24 hours. 

Adopting passwordless technologies such as biometrics or single sign-on (SSO) can reduce phishing risks.  However, they often leave password-based authentication enabled for emergencies or edge cases. This fallback mechanism can still be exploited if attackers gain access to user directories, creating a false sense of security. 

Organizations need a holistic approach that encompasses both primary and backup access methods. Disaster recovery and business continuity plans must account for worst-case scenarios like directory breaches. A strong strategy weaves together enterprise password management, SSO and passwordless technologies to ensure resilience and security. 

3. Identifying and Revoking Rogue Access

A rogue account is one that is not authorized by your IT department. For example, if you forget to revoke a former employee's access to your network, they will have a rogue account and that presents a serious security risk.  

Notably, there remains a significant gap between organizations’ service level agreements and the reality of detecting and removing rogue accounts in cloud infrastructure. While more than three-quarters of respondents said they can identify and remove such accounts within three days, only 12% reported using automated technology to do so. Industry best practices now recommend implementing automated lifecycle management tools to ensure that the right individuals have the appropriate access at the right times. 

4. Unclear Identity Lifecycle Management Plans 

Navigating the Identity Lifecycle Management (ILM) or Joiner-Mover-Leaver landscape is one of the major challenges both IT and HR professionals face today while managing the constantly changing identities within your organization. All too often, organizations rely on manual or lightly scripted processes which introduce human error.  As a result, security controls become lax or fall through the cracks. 

• Many organizations still struggle to manage identities holistically across the entire lifecycle – from joiners and movers to leavers, contractors and non-human accounts. Despite advancements in identity governance and administration (IGA), teams often rely on siloed tools such as HR-driven onboarding, manual access reviews or platform specific scripts leading to: 

• Security gaps: In 2025, the exploitation of vulnerabilities, particularly in edge devices and third-party platforms, played a significant role in breaches, with 20% of breaches involving such vulnerabilities, a 34% increase from the previous year.   
• Compliance failures: The report, 2025 Global Digital Trust, shows a 13 % point gap in confidence between CISOs and CEOs on compliance resilience regulations, highlighting challenges in meeting evolving rules. While 96% of organizations boosted cyber investments because of regulations, disparities in preparedness remain, particularly in areas like third-party risk management. 

A Modern Approach Requires: 

• Unified identity fabric: Integrating human resources, information technology and software-as-a-service (SaaS) systems into a single policy engine. 
• Continuous lifecycle controls: Moving beyond joiner-mover-leaver (JML) to cover temporary workers, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) integrations and AI bot identities. 

In many organizations, it is not cost-effective or realistic to fully automate Joiner-Mover-Leaver with all applications. For this reason, it’s important to conduct an assessment of business-critical infrastructure and focus on mission critical infrastructure.  In doing so, organizations can set realistic and accurate SLAs for crucial assets. For less critical systems, it might be perfectly acceptable to have a protracted SLA. These kinds of decisions need to be made collectively with relevant stakeholders and with full awareness of the implications. Planning and transparency are essential elements of well-crafted SLAs. 

Download Our Free Report 

Don’t let poor password management put your organization at risk. With Bravura Security Fabric, you gain a unified, enterprise-grade solution for managing the entire identity lifecycle from onboarding to offboarding. 

Our comprehensive Joiner-Mover-Leaver (JML) management capabilities ensure seamless identity transitions, while our integrated approach to privileged access, end-user credentials, and comprehensive authentication empowers your organization to: 

• Enforce password policies swiftly and consistently 

• Eliminate vulnerabilities before they surface in audits 

• Maintain compliance and security across all identity touchpoints 
• Bravura Security Fabric weaves together all your identity and access management needs into one powerful, scalable platform so you can focus on growth, not gaps. 

For more on the current state of cloud security access management, download our free infographic. And if you're considering implementing zero trust or IAM solutions in your organization, contact us to request a free demo of our security solutions. We'll show you how the Bravura Security Fabric can improve your company's cybersecurity posture and enhance employee productivity.