Identity Security
Every sign-in on campus is a decision about trust. As private colleges and universities move more of their work to the cloud and bring AI into daily use, the account a person signs in with has become the main barrier between an attacker and institutional data. Identity security confirms who is signing in, checks the device they’re using, and limits what each account can reach, so a stolen password on its own is far less useful to an attacker.
Identity Security Solutions
Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID, formerly Azure Active Directory, is the identity service behind every Microsoft 365 sign-in. It provides single sign-on to Microsoft 365 and thousands of other cloud applications, multifactor authentication, and Conditional Access policies that allow or block a sign-in based on the person, their device, and the level of risk. Microsoft has made passkeys the default sign-in method in Entra ID and is retiring its own text message and voice codes.
DUO
Cisco Duo protects access to applications with multifactor authentication, single sign-on, and device trust, which checks whether a laptop or phone meets the institution’s requirements before it connects. Duo also offers passwordless sign-in, including passkeys. Because it can protect VPN access and on-campus Windows and Linux servers as well as cloud applications, Duo can extend the same sign-in protections to systems outside Microsoft 365.
Yubico
A YubiKey is a small physical security key that holds a device-bound passkey, so the credential stays on the key rather than on a phone or computer. YubiKeys work as a phishing-resistant sign-in method with Microsoft Entra ID and can also serve older systems that rely on smart cards. Microsoft recommends physical security keys for administrators and for shared or older computers, which makes them a natural fit for IT staff and for labs where people move between machines.
ManageEngine
ManageEngine focuses on the work behind identity: creating, changing, and removing accounts, and governing who has access to what. AD360 manages the account lifecycle and access reviews across Active Directory, Microsoft 365, and Exchange, and audits changes and sign-in activity. PAM360 protects privileged accounts, such as administrator logins, by storing their credentials in a vault, rotating passwords, and granting elevated access only when it’s needed.
What is identity security?
Identity security is the combination of tools and policies that verify who is signing in and control what each person can access once they’re in. It typically covers multifactor authentication, single sign-on, rules that decide when to allow or block a sign-in, the lifecycle of each account from first day to last, and extra protection for administrator accounts.
Why does identity matter so much on a college campus?
Campuses have more account turnover than most organizations. Students arrive and graduate every year, adjunct faculty and part-time staff come and go by the term, and contractors, guests, and alumni may each need some level of access. Every one of those accounts is a possible way in for someone who has phished a password. For a small IT team, the challenge is keeping access right for thousands of people without managing each account by hand.
How do these tools work together on campus?
Take an adjunct instructor hired to teach one course in the history department for the spring term. Depending on the tools a campus uses, their access unfolds like this:
- HR adds the new hire, and the identity lifecycle tool creates the account with the right department groups and course access, instead of IT building it by hand.
- At first sign-in, the instructor registers a passkey, in Microsoft Authenticator on their phone or on a YubiKey, rather than relying on a text code.
- When they open Microsoft 365 from home, Entra ID’s Conditional Access checks the sign-in and the device before letting them in.
- When they connect to an on-campus system through the VPN, Duo applies its own sign-in and device checks.
- When an IT administrator updates the course system that week, they use a privileged account checked out from the vault for that task only.
- When the term ends, the instructor’s access is removed on schedule, and the audit trail shows what changed and when.
