In the ever-evolving landscape of IT security, the importance of protecting identity cannot be overstated. With organizations incorporating cloud applications and software-as-a-service into their IT environments, the concept of identity being the new perimeter has never been more relevant. However, many organizations are faced with the challenge of securing identity without a clear understanding of what they actually have.
One company that aims to address this identity gap is Hydden, a startup that has recently emerged from stealth mode with a $4.4 million seed funding round led by Access Venture Partners. Hydden’s platform is designed to provide security teams with visibility into the organization’s entire identity environment. By connecting to existing identity and access management tools, as well as cloud and on-premises applications, Hydden enables organizations to gain complete insight into their identities, accounts, and privileges. The platform’s time capsule feature enhances proactive threat management by identifying patterns and assisting with post-event analysis.
Jai Dargan, CEO and co-founder of Hydden, recognizes the challenges faced by Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) who are under immense pressure due to the lack of resources and time. Dargan emphasizes the company’s commitment to alleviating this burden by addressing the crucial task of securing identity within organizations.
In today’s cybersecurity landscape, managing identity goes beyond simply maintaining passwords and implementing multi-factor authentication. Security teams must also oversee accounts for both cloud-based and internal applications, including non-human identities such as service accounts, automated process accounts, API keys, and application tokens.
The risks associated with gaps in identity management are significant, including over-provisioned or over-privileged accounts, misconfigured multi-factor authentication, and unused accounts. In some cases, credentials stored in unknown locations are exposed, highlighting the importance of robust identity management practices.
Hydden aims to combat these risks by offering a unified data layer across various identity and access management domains, including identity governance and administration, privileged access management, and identity threat detection and response products. While established privilege access management and identity and access management tools may be effective for on-premise applications, they often fall short for organizations with cloud-first or hybrid environments.
Dargan emphasizes Hydden’s goal of becoming the continuous source of truth in identity management. The platform continuously monitors the IT environment to detect and classify identities, issuing warnings when identity-related risks are detected. Dargan advocates for the evolution of identity management into real-time processes, drawing parallels to the shift towards continuous authentication and monitoring in the industry.
As organizations navigate the complex landscape of IT security, the need for continuous identity asset discovery becomes increasingly pressing. Dargan highlights the importance of complementing network and asset discovery with continuous identity asset discovery to ensure comprehensive security measures are in place.
Overall, Hydden’s innovative approach to identity management aims to provide organizations with the visibility and control necessary to safeguard their most valuable asset — identity. By bridging the identity gap and offering insight into the organization’s entire identity landscape, Hydden is positioned to help security teams navigate the evolving challenges of modern cybersecurity.