IT Solution: Business Owners Can Securely Grant and Remove Contractor Access, Here’s How

The IT Solution? Business To Use Conditional Access 

At first glance, controlling contractor access can be difficult and risky. This is because the company may need an immediate IT solution, business-related matters requiring fast response. However, without conditional access, cybersecurity risk becomes even more significant as well. This comes from common problems such as shared passwords as well as forgotten accounts.  

IT Solution: Business Owners Can Securely Grant and Remove Contractor Access, Here’s How

Providers of IT solution, business accounts explain that this convenience does not have to be dangerous. Tools such as Microsoft Entra Conditional Access enables you to administer contractor access with great precision. This means you are able to delete such access automatically when they become no longer necessary. To start, the installation of this system is simple and can be done in, at most, an hour. Most importantly, it bridges the security gap while removing possible operational burden. 

Experts in IT Solution: Business Revocation of Automated Access Matters 

First, regulatory compliance and security are secured by revoking automated access. According to experts in IT solution, business sharing credentials with contractors becomes vulnerable to the threat of human error. Usually, when a project is done, people forget to remove accounts, and these active accounts can be taken advantage of by attackers. These accounts are easy targets since no one keeps an eye on their activities. A popular example is the incident of data breach involving Target in 2013. Back then, cybercriminals were able to log into the network using the credentials of third-party contractors. It was known that the contractor only required partial access to billing, however, with the generous permissions, hackers were able to access everything and move freely within the network. Hence, resulting in millions of customer records being revealed. 

In line with this, Conditional Access eliminates this risk. This is because the access is automatically finalized after the contractor finishes their tasks. Moreover, this does not need memory or manual cleaning, thereby becoming predictable security rather than responsive. Most importantly, it also shows reasonable compliance with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA.  

Start with a Dedicated Contractor Security Group 

Secure access depends on the organization. The use of personal regulations for every contractor not only generates misunderstanding but is also associated with the risk of errors. Instead of this, forming a security group in Microsoft Entra with a clear and descriptive name, such as External-Contractors or Temporary-Access, would minimize future issues. In this group, you form your control center where all contractors become members of this group once work commences and is removed when tasks are done or contract is terminated. This single act triggers the change of access, automatically, making it automatic. It makes it easy to manage, and it expands easily with an increase in the number of your contractors. 

Create an Automatic Expiration Policy 

After getting a group created, the admin will create a Conditional Access policy based on and only applicable to the said group. This guarantees that employees are not compromised, yet access control is established in the policy settings. Additionally, making MFA mandatory in the Grant section. This gives an additional layer of security against identity theft. After which, set up the session controls for every contact in the group. For example, you grant a ninety-day access, which means that the contractors will be forced to reauthenticate at every 90 days or any regular and predetermined intervals. Hence, a contractor who is kicked off the group will be unable to sign in again, and existing sessions are also ended. Access is terminated automatically without extra effort.  

Restrict Access to Approved Applications Only 

In IT solution, business, it is known that not all areas of the system need to be accessed by all contractors. Therefore, you can further decrease risk by access restrictions. To do this, add a second Conditional Access policy to your group of contractors. You can direct this, for example, to target this policy on cloud applications that are not part of their tasks. Choose to provide access only to the tools that the contractors require such as Teams, SharePoint, Office applications, or certain business systems. Everything else must be blocked by default. This practice of least privileges creates an online barrier around every user. Hence, protecting sensitive systems and, in the event of a breach, contains the compromised part of the system.  

Strengthen Authentication Without Adding Friction 

Authentication controls can also be enhanced to increase security. We know that most contractors use personal devices. These devices are potential access points for attackers; however, direct control of those devices is not feasible. Nonetheless, since you still need to verify the identity of users, you can add Conditional Access to have loose authentication policies. This means, those who are compliant can be required or granted access via phishing-resistant measures. A good choice is Microsoft Authenticator since it minimizes the risk of credential abuse greatly. Making use of these logical conditions will be flexible. This means signing in is safe and secure without barriers that are unnecessary to the contractors while providing more resistance for possible attackers.  

Automation Will Handle the Heavy Work 

After configuring the system to have all the controls you need and want, it can then run without much supervision. As a result, once a contractor is added to the group, he/she can access it immediately. Security measures are automatic. Manual configuration is not required every time. In the same way, when the project is terminated, access is taken away by the group, therefore active sessions have ended, and access is revoked on all systems. Automation makes security consistent and reliable while eliminating the most frequent point of failure that requires admin to remember the task of doing manual cleanup.  

Regain Control with Help from the Right IT Solution Business Provider 

Contractor access should not be stressful. You and your team can consider Conditional Access policies that give you control but not complexity. If you are unsure how this is installed and properly configured, here at EB Solution, we would be more than happy to help. 

Call us today!