In the context of my Security and Identity Analytics R&D work I am currently exploring various methodologies and approaches to elicit strategic preferences from decision makers.
Ideally, by understanding these strategic preferences, it is possible to create a framework where to investigate the implications of security (investment) decisions, from an economic perspective: in this context, analytic methods, leveraging modelling and simulation techniques, can also be used for what-if analysis.
Recent technical reports, HPL-2010-11 and HPL-2010-12, provide a more detailed description of some of the work done at HP Labs in Identity Analytics, in the space of Economics of Identity Management.
Of course I am well aware that different approaches and methodologies might apply and that the scientific community has different views and perceptions of how and when to use preference elicitation.
An interesting paper (among many) setting the context in this domain is “Survey of Preference Elicitation Methods” by Li Chen and Pearl Pu, EPFL, Losanne.
However, I wonder if anybody in the community is aware of current work and or documents describing methodologies and case studies in the specific area of preference elicitation, in the security domain.
--- Posted by Marco Casassa Mont (here and here) ---
--- NOTE: use this mirror blog if you prefer posting on an external blog site ---
--- NOTE: my original HP blog can be found here ---
Showing posts with label Economics of IAM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economics of IAM. Show all posts
Friday, May 21, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Identity Analytics and Economics of IAM – Presentation at IFIP/IEEE BDIM 2010
Due to recent “volcanic activities”, I could not attend the 5th IFIP/IEEE International Workshop on Business-driven IT Management 2010 - BDIM 2010, Osaka, Japan.
However, I have been able to give a remote presentation of the topic discussed in my accepted paper:
“Marco Casassa Mont, Yolanta Beres, David Pym, Simon Shiu - Economics of Identity and Access Management: Providing Decision Support for Investments”
My full presentation (MS .ppt) is available here. An abstract of the paper (and presentation) follows:
“Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a key enabler of enterprise businesses: it supports automation, security enforcement and compliance. However, most enterprises struggle with their Identity and Access Management strategy. Discussions on IAM primarily focus at the IT operational level, rather than targeting strategic decision makers' issues, at the business level. Organisations are experiencing an increasing number of internal and external threats and risks: there is scarcity of resources and budget to address them all. Decision makers (e.g. CIOs, CISOs) need to prioritise their choices and motivate their requests for investments. This applies for investments in IAM vs. other possible security or business investments that could be made by the organisation. In this context, a range of possible IAM investment options has an effect on multiple strategic outcomes of interest, such as assurance, agility, security, compliance, productivity and empowerment. We have developed a repeatable approach and methodology to help organisations work through this complex problem space and determine an appropriate strategy, by providing them with decision support capabilities. The proposed approach, validated in collaboration with security and IAM experts, couples economic modeling (which explores decision makers' preferences between the different outcomes) with system modeling & simulations to predict the consequences (likely outcomes) associated with different investment choices and map them against decision makers' preferences, in order to identify the most suitable investment options. We illustrate how this methodology has been applied in an IAM case study, in a business-driven context with core enterprise services. This work is in progress. We discuss current results and next steps.”
--- Posted by Marco Casassa Mont (here and here) ---
--- NOTE: use this mirror blog if you prefer posting on an external blog site ---
--- NOTE: my original HP blog can be found here ---
However, I have been able to give a remote presentation of the topic discussed in my accepted paper:
“Marco Casassa Mont, Yolanta Beres, David Pym, Simon Shiu - Economics of Identity and Access Management: Providing Decision Support for Investments”
My full presentation (MS .ppt) is available here. An abstract of the paper (and presentation) follows:
“Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a key enabler of enterprise businesses: it supports automation, security enforcement and compliance. However, most enterprises struggle with their Identity and Access Management strategy. Discussions on IAM primarily focus at the IT operational level, rather than targeting strategic decision makers' issues, at the business level. Organisations are experiencing an increasing number of internal and external threats and risks: there is scarcity of resources and budget to address them all. Decision makers (e.g. CIOs, CISOs) need to prioritise their choices and motivate their requests for investments. This applies for investments in IAM vs. other possible security or business investments that could be made by the organisation. In this context, a range of possible IAM investment options has an effect on multiple strategic outcomes of interest, such as assurance, agility, security, compliance, productivity and empowerment. We have developed a repeatable approach and methodology to help organisations work through this complex problem space and determine an appropriate strategy, by providing them with decision support capabilities. The proposed approach, validated in collaboration with security and IAM experts, couples economic modeling (which explores decision makers' preferences between the different outcomes) with system modeling & simulations to predict the consequences (likely outcomes) associated with different investment choices and map them against decision makers' preferences, in order to identify the most suitable investment options. We illustrate how this methodology has been applied in an IAM case study, in a business-driven context with core enterprise services. This work is in progress. We discuss current results and next steps.”
--- Posted by Marco Casassa Mont (here and here) ---
--- NOTE: use this mirror blog if you prefer posting on an external blog site ---
--- NOTE: my original HP blog can be found here ---
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Economics of IAM: On the need to move the focus of IAM from the Operational Level to the Strategic Level
I noticed that most of the discussions on IAM are really focused on the operational and functional aspects. As eventually decision makers (with a budget) need to make investment decisions in this space, the usual arguments about ROIs and business-level cost/benefit analysis are made by starting from this perspective.
But, is this really what CIOs/CISOs and related strategic decisions makers want to hear? After been exposed to various interactions with people covering these roles, I believe this is not really the type of message they are looking for.
In these days, strategic decision makers (that have a budget and make investment decisions …) need to balance a variety of aspects and constraints derived from the business, legislation, governance, IT, security, etc. They need to cope with various tension points and mediate different viewpoints within the organisation; as a consequence they need to explore the various trade-offs and identify the most suitable investment choices consistently with their ever shrinking budgets.
So, arguments made in the context of IAM should move away from a pure technological/IT viewpoint (that is anyway still very important …) to encompass an holistic view that takes into account the complexity of the business, legislative and IT world they operate on a daily basis.
I believe that the economics of IAM, in a wider context of the economics of security, is a discipline and area that really need to be explored.
I personally believe this is a fascinating area where various contributions can be made. The HP Labs work on Identity Analytics, Economics of IAM and Security Analytics is really meant to make progress in this direction.
I am currently carrying on various case studies with HP customers. They are extremely valuable to refine ideas and build decision strategic support solutions. I am very keen in getting any additional input/viewpoints and (unusual) case studies to make further progress in this space.
--- Posted by Marco Casassa Mont (here and here) ---
--- NOTE: use this mirror blog if you prefer posting on an external blog site ---
--- NOTE: my original HP blog can be found here ---
But, is this really what CIOs/CISOs and related strategic decisions makers want to hear? After been exposed to various interactions with people covering these roles, I believe this is not really the type of message they are looking for.
In these days, strategic decision makers (that have a budget and make investment decisions …) need to balance a variety of aspects and constraints derived from the business, legislation, governance, IT, security, etc. They need to cope with various tension points and mediate different viewpoints within the organisation; as a consequence they need to explore the various trade-offs and identify the most suitable investment choices consistently with their ever shrinking budgets.
So, arguments made in the context of IAM should move away from a pure technological/IT viewpoint (that is anyway still very important …) to encompass an holistic view that takes into account the complexity of the business, legislative and IT world they operate on a daily basis.
I believe that the economics of IAM, in a wider context of the economics of security, is a discipline and area that really need to be explored.
I personally believe this is a fascinating area where various contributions can be made. The HP Labs work on Identity Analytics, Economics of IAM and Security Analytics is really meant to make progress in this direction.
I am currently carrying on various case studies with HP customers. They are extremely valuable to refine ideas and build decision strategic support solutions. I am very keen in getting any additional input/viewpoints and (unusual) case studies to make further progress in this space.
--- Posted by Marco Casassa Mont (here and here) ---
--- NOTE: use this mirror blog if you prefer posting on an external blog site ---
--- NOTE: my original HP blog can be found here ---
HPL Technical Reports – Economics of Identity and Access Management: Providing Decision Support for Investments
I recently published (jointly with a few HPL colleagues) two HPL Technical Reports on the topic of “Economics of Identity and Access Management (IAM)”: HPL-TR-11 (executive summary) and HPL-TR-12 (detailed description of the case study)
These two documents discuss a case study aiming at integrating economics to security analytics methodologies, to provide strategic decision support in the IAM space:
“Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a key enabler of enterprise businesses: it supports automation, security enforcement and compliance. However, most enterprises struggle with their Identity and Access Management strategy. Discussions on IAM primarily focus at the IT operational level, rather than targeting strategic decision makers' issues, at the business level. Organisations are experiencing an increasing number of internal and external threats and risks: there is scarcity of resources and budget to address them all. Decision makers (e.g. CIOs, CISOs) need to prioritise their choices and motivate their requests for investments. This applies for investments in IAM vs. other possible security or business investments that could be made by the organisation. In this context, a range of possible IAM investment options has an effect on multiple strategic outcomes of interest, such as assurance, agility, security, compliance, productivity and empowerment. We have developed a repeatable approach and methodology to help organizations work through this complex problem space and determine an appropriate strategy, by providing them with decision support capabilities. The proposed approach, validated in collaboration with security and IAM experts, couples economic modeling (which explores decision makers' preferences between the different outcomes) with system modeling & simulations to predict the consequences (likely outcomes) associated with different investment choices and map them against decision makers' preferences, in order to identify the most suitable investment options. We illustrate how this methodology has been applied in an IAM case study, in a business-driven context with core enterprise services. This work is in progress. We discuss current results and next steps.”
A related paper discussing this work has recently been accepted at the 5th IEEE/IFIP Business Driven IT Management Workshop, BDIM 2010.
In addition to current engagements with HP customers, I am also looking for additional (interesting/unusual) case studies involving IAM aspects where to further refine this approach.
--- Posted by Marco Casassa Mont (here and here) ---
--- NOTE: use this mirror blog if you prefer posting on an external blog site ---
--- NOTE: my original HP blog can be found here ---
These two documents discuss a case study aiming at integrating economics to security analytics methodologies, to provide strategic decision support in the IAM space:
“Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a key enabler of enterprise businesses: it supports automation, security enforcement and compliance. However, most enterprises struggle with their Identity and Access Management strategy. Discussions on IAM primarily focus at the IT operational level, rather than targeting strategic decision makers' issues, at the business level. Organisations are experiencing an increasing number of internal and external threats and risks: there is scarcity of resources and budget to address them all. Decision makers (e.g. CIOs, CISOs) need to prioritise their choices and motivate their requests for investments. This applies for investments in IAM vs. other possible security or business investments that could be made by the organisation. In this context, a range of possible IAM investment options has an effect on multiple strategic outcomes of interest, such as assurance, agility, security, compliance, productivity and empowerment. We have developed a repeatable approach and methodology to help organizations work through this complex problem space and determine an appropriate strategy, by providing them with decision support capabilities. The proposed approach, validated in collaboration with security and IAM experts, couples economic modeling (which explores decision makers' preferences between the different outcomes) with system modeling & simulations to predict the consequences (likely outcomes) associated with different investment choices and map them against decision makers' preferences, in order to identify the most suitable investment options. We illustrate how this methodology has been applied in an IAM case study, in a business-driven context with core enterprise services. This work is in progress. We discuss current results and next steps.”
A related paper discussing this work has recently been accepted at the 5th IEEE/IFIP Business Driven IT Management Workshop, BDIM 2010.
In addition to current engagements with HP customers, I am also looking for additional (interesting/unusual) case studies involving IAM aspects where to further refine this approach.
--- Posted by Marco Casassa Mont (here and here) ---
--- NOTE: use this mirror blog if you prefer posting on an external blog site ---
--- NOTE: my original HP blog can be found here ---
Friday, March 20, 2009
The Economics of Identity and Access Management (IAM)
What are the Economics of Identity and Access Management (IAM)? This is a key area that needs to be explored, to really understand, from an economic perspective, the actual value that IAM provides to organizations based on its impact on aspects of relevance to decision makers (such as loss prevention and risk mitigation) and the threat landscape.
A few core aspects need to be researched:
1) What are the key “aspects/metrics” that characterize the impact of IAM investments on an enterprise, for example in terms of preventing/reducing losses? In a first analysis important “macro” aspects include: security breaches (B), productivity loss (P), compliance violations (C) and costs (K)…
2) How do these aspects/metrics relate to the basic IAM “levers” that decision makers (e.g. CIO/CISO/Risk Managers) can act on i.e. configuration, enforcement and audit reporting tools (compliance checking tools)? We need to capture the relevant causal dependencies, for example: what are the consequences and the impact of investing more on audit/compliance checking, rather than in configuration or enforcement? What are the consequences of acting on enforcement in terms of productivity and costs?
3) Which utility functions, U(B,P,C,K) can effectively model the impact of IAM (e.g. in terms of losses) on security breaches, productivity loss, compliance violations and costs by factoring in the investments in the “configuration, enforcement and audit” levers?
4) How to effectively use systems modeling to estimate these utility functions, by animating the causal dependencies and inter-relationships among these “levers” and their impact on metrics, inclusive of assumptions on the threat landscape?
So far I found very little literature and related work in this space – I would be keen to get any reference or link, if available.
I am going to pursue research in this space, in the context of the Identity Analytics activity (HP Labs Security Analytics project, Systems Security Lab), as I believe this (as for the Economics of Privacy and the Economics of Information Security) can:
- provide a more rational way to describe and analyse the impact and value that IAM actually offers to organizations;
- provide key decision makers with a decision support tool that operates at their level of abstraction.
--- Posted by Marco Casassa Mont (here and here) ---
--- NOTE: my original HP blog can be found here ---
A few core aspects need to be researched:
1) What are the key “aspects/metrics” that characterize the impact of IAM investments on an enterprise, for example in terms of preventing/reducing losses? In a first analysis important “macro” aspects include: security breaches (B), productivity loss (P), compliance violations (C) and costs (K)…
2) How do these aspects/metrics relate to the basic IAM “levers” that decision makers (e.g. CIO/CISO/Risk Managers) can act on i.e. configuration, enforcement and audit reporting tools (compliance checking tools)? We need to capture the relevant causal dependencies, for example: what are the consequences and the impact of investing more on audit/compliance checking, rather than in configuration or enforcement? What are the consequences of acting on enforcement in terms of productivity and costs?
3) Which utility functions, U(B,P,C,K) can effectively model the impact of IAM (e.g. in terms of losses) on security breaches, productivity loss, compliance violations and costs by factoring in the investments in the “configuration, enforcement and audit” levers?
4) How to effectively use systems modeling to estimate these utility functions, by animating the causal dependencies and inter-relationships among these “levers” and their impact on metrics, inclusive of assumptions on the threat landscape?
So far I found very little literature and related work in this space – I would be keen to get any reference or link, if available.
I am going to pursue research in this space, in the context of the Identity Analytics activity (HP Labs Security Analytics project, Systems Security Lab), as I believe this (as for the Economics of Privacy and the Economics of Information Security) can:
- provide a more rational way to describe and analyse the impact and value that IAM actually offers to organizations;
- provide key decision makers with a decision support tool that operates at their level of abstraction.
--- Posted by Marco Casassa Mont (here and here) ---
--- NOTE: my original HP blog can be found here ---
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