For many IT security teams, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for identity may still seem like wizardry. Perhaps it’s appropriate that the autonomous identity platform from identity security upstart Lumos is dubbed "Albus" — the same forename as Dumbledore, the headmaster of the wizarding school from the Harry Potter book series.Lumos announced June 3 that its new "AI multi-agent system" will work its magic by assisting organizations in scaling up identity governance and administration. Albus is built to determine the reasons for a company’s access decisions, make and describe its recommendations and proactively take action when necessary to help enterprise security teams manage "who gets access to what, and why," as Lumos explained in its release.
AI has been both the boon and the bane of IT security in recent months. As more enterprises are dealing with an exponential number of non-human identities, including bots and service accounts, as opposed to actual people trying to gain access to information and systems, the need for software and systems that can more quickly and easily weed out the identities that don’t belong is critical. Nine out of 10 companies have had an identity-related breach with the prior year, according to the IDSA's 2024 Trends in Identity Security report, cited by Lumos.
“Identity-related incidents are on the rise, emphasizing the need for strong identity security measures,” said Jeff Reich, executive director at IDSA, in his May 2024 release on the report. “Many of today’s major breaches result from sophisticated phishing and social-engineering attacks or not having multi-factor authentication. … With identity threats becoming more severe, it’s crucial for organizations to strengthen their identity security frameworks to better protect against these growing challenges.”Lumos said it expects that Albus will advance the technology as it is focused on multiple agents within an enterprise and can utilize the enterprise’s own internal data and relevant human resources, and access information to continually improve on its role and policy proposals. The platform "explains what each entitlement does, flags unnecessary or risky access, and builds role models that evolve over time," according to the announcement."Most companies still can't answer the most basic identity question — who has access to what, and should they?” said Andrej Safundzic, CEO & co-founder of Lumos. “In today's world, where risk is rising and change is constant, legacy tools are too manual, not proactive and too slow."
Karen “Pepper” Hoffman has been writing and analyzing IT security, financial technology and general business and technology issues for more than three decades. She lives in Olympia, Wash.
As outlined in CyberScoop, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has canceled a contract with Penlink that utilized ad-surveillance technologies to track Americans' locations.
