The Hidden Risk In Access Management: How Identity Sprawl Is Undermining Business Security

InnovationThe Hidden Risk In Access Management: How Identity Sprawl Is Undermining Business SecurityByPraerit Garg,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)May 11, 2026, 08:30am EDTPraerit Garg, CEO, One Identity, trusted leader in identity security, helping enterprises protect and simplify access to digital identities. gettyMost executives I’ve spoken with in recent months believe that access management is largely under control. Employees are given access to the systems they need when they join, with permissions typically granted based on their role, and then accounts are disabled when those employees move on to pastures new. On paper, the process appears orderly and well governed, and that inspires confidence. However, that confidence is often misplaced and tends to fall apart when organizations are asked to take a closer look at how they manage identity and access. According to the Ponemon Institute, only 44% of organizations said they were “highly confident” in their ability to prevent identity-based security incidents, suggesting many companies still struggle to maintain comprehensive visibility when it comes to access management. In a 2025 report, Microsoft revealed that 66% of attack pathways involve compromised credentials or accounts, underscoring the importance of air-tight identity and access management (IAM).When it comes to access management, the risk rarely sits at the beginning or end of the employee life cycle. It sits right in the middle, where day-to-day work actually happens. Modern organizations are fluid environments where people move between teams, take on new responsibilities, participate in temporary initiatives and interact with a mushrooming ecosystem of applications and services. Each change often requires new access, and those permissions tend to accumulate over time. What happens far l...