Identity & Access Security

About Identity & Access Security

Identity and access security tools manage how users, services, and machines authenticate to systems and what they can access once authenticated. The category covers several areas. Secrets management platforms like HashiCorp Vault centralize storage of API keys, database credentials, and certificates, replacing hardcoded secrets with dynamic, short-lived credentials. Identity and access management (IAM) systems like Keycloak provide single sign-on, OAuth2, and OpenID Connect authentication for applications. Identity-aware proxies like Teleport and HashiCorp Boundary broker access to SSH, Kubernetes, and database resources without exposing credentials or private networks. Privileged access management tools monitor and control administrative sessions, recording activity for audit. Identity threat detection and response (ITDR) tools monitor identity systems for compromise indicators like anomalous login patterns and privilege escalation. The category has grown with cloud adoption, since cloud environments introduce dynamic infrastructure where static credentials and VPN-based access models do not scale. Tools in this category overlap with cloud-native security for cloud IAM auditing and with red team tools for testing access controls.