Introduction to Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)

Key Concepts

• CIAM: Facilitates secure digital interactions between individuals and organizations.
• Distinct from Workforce IAM: CIAM is different from workforce IAM due to unique challenges and opportunities, focusing on customer, consumer, or citizen interactions.

Terminology

• Authentication: Process of verifying identity.
• Authenticator: Tools like passwords or smart cards used for authentication.
• Authorization: Determining user access rights and levels.
• Consent: Agreement to allow something to happen.
• Credentials: Means of authenticating oneself.
• Credential Stuffing: Attack testing username/password pairs.
• Lifecycle: Stages of interaction between individual and organization.
• Passwordless: Authentication without stored secrets.
• Policy Store: Repository for CIAM configurations.
• Preferences: User's choices in interactions with an organization.
• Profile: Attributes of an individual collected by the organization.

Importance of CIAM

• Needed for digital transformation and engagement.
• Helps organizations reach new customers and reduce costs.
• Seen as a profit-center, unlike workforce IAM.

Differences from Workforce IAM

• CIAM Goals: Focus on digital engagement, experiences, and security.
• Tools Used: Just-in-time user provisioning, social sign-on, user registration.

Business Models

• B2C: Business-to-consumer, primary focus of CIAM.
• B2B: Business-to-business, secondary focus.
• B2B2C: Business-to-business-to-consumer, technology service providers offering CIAM capabilities.

Stakeholders and Measurements

• Stakeholders: Include marketing, digital, sales, privacy, legal, etc.
• Goals: Increase engagement, reduce friction, build loyalty.
• Metrics: Unique visitors, page views, conversion rates, customer satisfaction.

Challenges

• Risks on the Internet: Includes fraudulent registration, credential stuffing, and account takeover.
• Migration Issues: Challenges in migrating CIAM systems, especially passwords.
• Budget and Ownership: Complex structure of stakeholders with varying priorities.

Functions and Components

• Core Functions: User registration, authentication, single sign-on, OAuth token management.
• Components: Credential and profile stores, policy store, admin interface, authentication service.

Conclusion

• CIAM offers opportunities for identity professionals to grow organizational reach and improve both top and bottom lines.
• Involves new stakeholders like Brand, Marketing, and Digital, bringing unique requirements.

Future Topics

• Incident response playbooks, identity verification, high availability architecture, fraud prevention tools, and emerging credential trends.