Identity Protection

Identity protection is the set of policies, technologies, and processes used to safeguard enterprise identities and digital identity profiles from fraud, misuse, or unauthorized access. In an enterprise context, identity protection focuses on preventing unauthorized individuals from accessing systems, data, or applications through stolen credentials, insider misuse, or impersonation. While the term is often associated with consumer identity protection services, enterprise identity protection operates at a broader scale, encompassing workforce, partner, vendor, and patient identities. It relies on strong identity lifecycle management to ensure identities are created, updated, and decommissioned appropriately, supported by a centralized identity repository, effective user management, and consistent identity governance.

Protecting enterprise identities requires layered access management controls that verify the identity of a user, what they are allowed to do, and under what conditions access should be granted. Core mechanisms such as single sign-on (SSO), multifactor authentication (MFA), and federated identity management reduce credential sprawl while enforcing consistent authentication standards. Role- and attribute-based access controls further limit exposure by aligning access rights with job functions, contextual attributes, and least-privilege principles. Secure authorization ensures tokens and credentials are issued, validated, and revoked appropriately, while audits and reporting provide visibility into access patterns, policy compliance, and potential misuse across systems.

A growing area of focus within identity protection is the monitoring of higher-risk identities, including high-profile users and individuals more likely to be targeted for impersonation. Celebrities, executives, and public figures often have extensive personal information available online, including their social media profiles, increasing the likelihood of social engineering attempts and identity theft. Even at the enterprise level, these individuals may hold credentials or access controls tied to business systems for sponsorships, partner affiliation portals, or patient records. Because their risk profile is elevated and prone to phishing or cybersecurity attacks, these identities often require higher proofing requirements, closer scrutiny of access behavior, and more frequent validation to ensure credentials are not being abused to gain unauthorized system access or compromised for online identity theft.

Modern identity protection strategies also extend to monitoring other sensitive user populations, such as new hires or employees who are subject to prior phishing incidents, where misuse risk may be higher during specific stages of employment or promotions. Imprivata offers a VIP Watch List that expands traditional protection list capabilities by allowing organizations to create multiple categories of users or patients to monitor within a unified interface. Managed through the Identity Intelligence module, these watch lists streamline oversight of VIPs, celebrities, vulnerable patient populations, and potentially risky users, enabling tighter access management, targeted reporting, and faster detection of anomalous activity before it escalates into fraud or identity theft. The Imprivata Access Intelligence Platform (AIP) provides centralized visibility into identity activity, risk signals, and access behavior, helping organizations strengthen identity protection across complex enterprise environments.