More apps, more problems

Just because the servers aren’t ours doesn’t mean the problems disappeared. Yes SaaS apps make it easy for us from a business sense, but we still have to understand access control, data governance, and ya know all the normal security things we needed to think of before SaaS existed.

Okta and Security

I promise to be nice, I promise to be nice, I promise to be nice…

A good read on Okta’s actions to turn around their fortunes. I appreciate the fact that they understand that security isn’t just a switch you flip, but a culture you build. Maybe Okta is finally turning from a marketing company that happens to sell a security product, and into a security company with great marketing.

Data is the new oil.

So there’s this AI craze lately. Have you heard of it? It’s everywhere. Every vendor, every product, everything seems to have some “AI” component. But let’s pause for a second and talk about what that means. AI isn’t magic, although it may seem like it.

At it’s core, AI is made up of the following concepts:

• Algorithms

• Machine Learning

• Data

• Natural Language Processing

• Automation

Two guesses on which of these concepts we are going to focus on.

AI systems rely heavily on large amounts of data. The more data an AI system has, the better it can learn, make predictions, or recognize patterns. It uses math ( yes, math, that subject we groaned about in high school and complained that it would never help in the real world) to simulate human interaction.

( NOTE: That is a really really high level explanation, for the purposes of this post. The more low level answer while fascinating ,is a lot to go into, but really fun!)

So what does this mean when it comes to identity products and “AI”? Two things:

1) To truly have an AI product, vendors have to have access to data and large amounts of data.

2) they need the data we’ve ignored for the past two decades. ( Ouch)

In the black hole that is nested groups, audit logs, entitlement descriptions, and session data lies the key to unlocking the true power of the computers, data processing, and, yes, AI. The “360 degree visibility” that we’ve been promised for decades now is possible, but it means we first have to go through the years of shitty data we’ve been sweeping under the rug. And it also means that the results we get from AI are only as good as the data we give it.

It’s an exciting time in computing, especially in security and identity. Data problems have plagued this industry for a looong time, and while the advancements of AI and machine learning are making it easier to manage the data we have, it’s also important for us to develop a real strategy and plan around how we curate and manage that data. There is so much that we can do with it once we’ve refined it. I encourage you to start conversing about your identity data today. Give a real cautious AI to any vendor that gives you the promises of AI without sharing the underlying concepts of how they are building it. You may find that your most valuable resource has been underneath your digital feet the entire time.

IDENTITY JEDI UNIVERSITY is OFFICIALLY OPEN!

8 Months ago, I came up with a crazy idea. What if there was a place where people could learn about identity? A vendor-neutral place where people could learn, share, and advance together. I thought it would be awesome, and something I would have loved to have access to when I was learning identity. But I quickly put it to the side, and said it’s too big and not sure I could do it. But turns out I LOVE this crazy niche, and I LOVE talking about it and helping people understand it. So after much deliberating and planning, and asking myself where I would find the time, I talked with my team and decided.

FUCK IT. Let’s do it.

The vision for IDJU is to become a cornucopia ( I mean c’mon how often do you get a chance to use that word!!) of offerings that cover all the aspects of identity. Now obviously these things won’t be there day one, but the library will build over the coming months.

So starting today we open the doors to Identity Jedi University. An online course platform and community where anyone can come and learn about identity and access management.

The first course is a deep dive into the “soft skills” of IAM. I’m often asked how I got so good at identity, and when I stop to think about it, it wasn’t my programming background, our understanding of OAuth, LDAPs, or authentication. ( Not saying those aren’t important). But more so the ability to ask questions, communicate value to the business and deliver outcomes. So this first course dives into some tips and tricks I’ve used to lead successful projects over the years. It comes with access to the community where I’ll be doing live Q/A sessions every other Friday, and also adding some mini-modules over the next couple of weeks as well.

Thanks to my team for helping me put this together, and continuing to support building out the Identity Jedi Universe. Thank YOU, for continuing to be a supporter on this journey. Let’s change the world, one IAM project at a time.

( You felt that one..huh? Right in the ol’ ticker, the fuzzies..I know you did, it’s ok you don’t have to admit it)

OH..yeah you can click the link below to check out the page for IDJU, and enroll.