Centralized vs. Decentralized Identity Management Models: Which Is Better for Security?
Whether we’re talking about a carefully sorted mailing list waiting for the start of a marketing campaign or credit card details saved on a trusted online store, sensitive information can be found everywhere across the web. Considering how many organizations handle this type of information every day, having a secure identity management solution is a must.
While information consolidation via a centralized identity management system can strengthen the organization’s security, it can’t cut it in today’s cybersecurity climate. This is where the decentralized identity management model comes into play.
What Is Centralized Identity Management?
A centralized identity management system is a part of IT security and IT data management that handles collecting and storing user identity data in a single location. It also makes sure that only identified, authenticated, and authorized users can gain access to the organization’s IT assets.
As its name suggests, this identity management model is centralized. This means that everything happens in a single environment including one-and-only access to all the websites, applications, and other systems within an organization. So, every single user within an organization with a centralized identity management model is using the same set of login credentials, which has its pros and cons.
If we’re looking at the user-friendliness of a centralized solution, the ease of single sign-up can’t be emphasized enough. As everything can be accessed with a single username and password, users won’t have to come up with myriads of passwords and memorize all of them. Also, the more passwords a user needs to create, the higher the chance they’ll only reuse one of their old easy-to-remember ones,a particularly bad cybersecurity habit.
So, while having a shared sign-up enhances the user experience, it can result in higher vulnerability in case the user credentials are compromised. To counter this, users could come up with uncrackable passwords and upgrade their online security.
If you’re wondering how to create solid passwords or passphrases, it’s possible to use some of thebest strong password generators.
What Is Decentralized Identity Management?
A decentralized identity management model allows users to take control of their digital identity without depending on a central administrator or a service provider. So, after signing in to a shared workplace, a user continues to sign in to each site, app, and system separately. In contrast to its centralized counterpart, the access is spread out across multiple environments rather than a single one.
Every user has their own set of credentials for everything they’re trying to access and all their identity-related data is safely stored in a digital wallet on their mobile device. Then, a pair of public and private keys are created inside their wallet to let them share only the information needed for a specific task. Since all this data is stored in the user’s wallet and not on the organization’s servers, the user is the one who makes the calls about their sensitive data.
On the downside, this management model can’t match the visibility of a centralized solution, so the organization won’t have a clear view of its users and resources. As a result, the risk of a successful cyberattack rises. So, whichever type of identity management system you go with, you should learn ways toprotect yourself in the event of a data breach.
Centralized vs. Decentralized Identity Management: What’s the Difference?
These two types of identity management models differ in the way they store data and share it with others. While the centralized model stores all user data in a single, centralized location, the decentralized model distributes data across multiple locations and puts one’s trust in its users.
Let’s go through the main things that set these two models apart:
Centralized or Decentralized: Which Is the Future of Identity Management?
Although the centralized identity management model can ensure improved visibility and solve the issues of unauthorized access, its centralized database has a single point of failure that raises the risk of disastrous data breaches.
When it comes to the decentralized identity management model, user data is stored by users, in their wallets, and on their devices, which reduces the risk of data breaches. Plus, this model allows users to protect their privacy, which is a big bonus.
Excessive user privilege makes organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches. Here’s how identity and access management prevents that.
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