OM-IND-0013: Revocations per Line Manager (Indicator - IAM)

OM-IND-0013

Line Manager Recertifications (Process - IAM)

Revocations per Line Manager

1.5 peer reviewED

Given that:

• is the set of all line managers in the organization

• is the subset of line managers that have not completed their recertification

• is the subset of line managers that have completed their recertification and revoked 0 access rights

• is the access right revocation threshold above which revocations are considered abnormally high

• is the subset of line managers that have completed their recertification and revoked between 1 and access rights inclusive

• is the subset of line managers that have completed their recertification and revoked more than access rights

• are exclusive subsets

• is the set cardinality function

The indicator is composed of the following series:

No Recert

Recert 0

Recert Normal

Recert High

We recommend to initially set and adapt it if necessary.

The objective of this indicator is to measure the effectiveness of the LM Recertification process, that is to say how tightly line managers control discretionary access rights and roles.

No Recert shows the ratio of line managers who failed to complete their recertification duty. This must be maintained as low as possible.

Recert 0 shows the ratio of line managers who completed their recertification duty but revoked 0 access rights. Two distinct causes may explain this result: 1) access rights were optimal and did not require any change or 2) the line manager ticked the boxes without due care. Further inquiry may be required to distinguish between the two.

Recert Normal shows the ratio of line managers who completed their recertification duty and revoked a number of access rights that is within expectations.

Recert High shows the ratio of line managers who completed their recertification duty and revoked an abnormally high number of access rights. A one time high may be caused by changes in the organization. But if the situation persists, this may reflect an inefficient setup where line managers must continuously adapt access rights. A root cause may be that RBAC is not implemented or improperly implemented.

This indicator is adequate for benchmarking given comparable recertification campaign scopes, campaign frequency and parameter value.

• CISO (Stakeholder - IAM)

• IAM Management (Stakeholder)

• External Auditor (Stakehodler - IAM)

• Internal Control (Stakeholder - IAM)

• Line Manager (Stakeholder - IAM)

• Top Management (Stakeholder)

This indicator may be specialized for different scopes depending on recertification campaigns. Typical scopes are:

• Business applications

• Sensitive business applications

• Measuring the number of revocations is only a proxy to assess the level of engagement of line managers. This indicator should be used with critical distance and complemented with other information sources to get a genuine picture of what’s going on. For instance, surveying line managers may provide rich feedback to improve the process efficiency and effectiveness.

• The subset of access rights and roles that are discretionarily managed by line managers may be limited. Access rights and roles managed by other authorities may thus constitute a blind spot if the focus is only put on line managers.

• IAM System

Same frequency than recertification campaigns. Often quarterly, half-yearly or annually.

• Line Manager (Stakeholder - IAM)

• Line Manager Recertifications (Process - IAM)

• Recertification (Dictionary Entry)