Centralizing and managing identity data remains a low priority for many IT decision-makers, according to a new study. Credit: reklamlar / Getty Images A survey released Monday by Gartner and identity management vendor Radiant Logic indicates that most companies are suffering from complicated credential and identity issues, but few are taking steps to address it.The issue, according to Radiant Logic, is what it calls “identity sprawl”—businesses require identification and credentialling for an increasingly large number of systems these days, meaning that a given user might have one login for the HR system, another for one set of shared assets on the company network, another still for an official Microsoft account, and so on.Beyond being a headache for employees, Radiant Logic said this is a serious issue for IT departments for several reasons, not least of which is the complexity of managing identity across all the associated systems.“The lack of visibility and control across all these systems creates the opportunity for identity-driven cyber-attacks—offering more opportunities for misuse or negligence by individuals (employees, former employees, contractors, partners) and opening the door for cybercriminals to take advantage and move laterally throughout an organization,” the company said in a press release. ID issues costly to manage, IT pros sayThe survey, which covered 100 IT decision makers from around the world, found that 67% of respondents were both aware of the potential problems caused by overcomplicated identity management and unaware of how to address them, while 61% said that the issue is “too time-intensive and costly” to manage.The scale of the problem, at some companies, is difficult to overemphasize, according to Radiant Logic. Sixty percent of respondents said that the average user has more than 21 disparate identities across their companies systems, and two-thirds of respondents said that the issues cause technical debt and, of course, frustration in the workforce. Employee frustration, poor security and technical debt are all interrelated, the company noted. It’s increasingly difficult to prevent workers from reusing workplace credentials for personal applications, making them less secure, but it’s also increasingly commonplace.“IT leaders are concerned about budget constraints, employee frustration, and poor identity management practices,” the survey’s authors wrote. “Meanwhile, employees are frustrated because they can’t access the resources they need—leading to wasted time, reduced productivity, and depleted support.”Other data points in the survey included the fact that the biggest identity-related complaint from the respondents is systems having poor integration with new tools and applications, at 71%—and an identical percentage said that they didn’t have sufficient budget to pursue identity-related projects. Related content news UK government plans 2,500 new tech recruits by 2025 with focus on cybersecurity New apprenticeships and talent programmes will support recruitment for in-demand roles such as cybersecurity technologists and software developers By Michael Hill Sep 29, 2023 4 mins Education Industry Education Industry Education Industry news UK data regulator orders end to spreadsheet FOI requests after serious data breaches The Information Commissioner’s Office says alternative approaches should be used to publish freedom of information data to mitigate risks to personal information By Michael Hill Sep 29, 2023 3 mins Government Cybercrime Data and Information Security feature Cybersecurity startups to watch for in 2023 These startups are jumping in where most established security vendors have yet to go. By CSO Staff Sep 29, 2023 19 mins CSO and CISO Security news analysis Companies are already feeling the pressure from upcoming US SEC cyber rules New Securities and Exchange Commission cyber incident reporting rules don't kick in until December, but experts say they highlight the need for greater collaboration between CISOs and the C-suite By Cynthia Brumfield Sep 28, 2023 6 mins Regulation Data Breach Financial Services Industry Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe