The Hidden Challenge of Cloud Security
As cloud environments become increasingly dynamic and distributed, DevOps teams, security architects, and IT leaders face mounting challenges in managing identity sprawl and permission creep. Overprovisioned permissions remain one of the top risks in modern cloud ecosystems. To address this, cloud-native tools like AWS IAM Access Analyzer, Google Cloud Policy Analyzer, and Microsoft Entra Permissions Management (formerly CloudKnox) have become essential for enforcing least-privilege access with precision and scalability.
When implemented effectively, Access Analyzers reduce vulnerabilities, streamline compliance efforts, and optimize operations, all without introducing operational drag. This blog explores why Access Analyzers are critical, how they function, and why a platform approach like Axiom can further enhance your least-privilege strategy.
What Are Cloud Access Analyzers?
Cloud Access Analyzers are built-in tools within AWS, Azure, and GCP that help organizations assess and optimize identity and resource permissions.
- AWS IAM Access Analyzer evaluates resource policies to identify unintended external access (such as cross-account, organizational, or public access). It generates actionable findings that security teams can investigate and remediate.
- Google Cloud Policy Analyzer provides visibility into who has what access across resources by analyzing IAM allow policies. It enables detailed queries based on principal, permission, or resource.
- Microsoft Entra Permissions Management (retiring in October 2025) analyzed cloud permissions across Azure, AWS, and GCP environments, enabling continuous discovery and remediation of excessive permissions. Organizations currently using Permissions Management are advised to transition to alternative CIEM solutions.
These analyzers surface misconfigurations and excess permissions, allowing organizations to “rightsize” access and adhere to the principle of least privilege. However, while these tools highlight risks, they do not automatically remediate them; teams must take informed actions based on the insights.
Why Overprovisioned Access Is Your Biggest Risk
The numbers are alarming:
- 99% of cloud permissions go unused (Microsoft, 2023).
- 75% year-over-year increase in cloud intrusions (CrowdStrike, 2024).
- 90% of identities use less than 5% of their assigned permissions.
Key risks of overprovisioned access:
- Expanded Attack Surface: Excessive permissions increase opportunities for lateral movement.
- Compliance Failures: Regulatory audits demand evidence of least-privilege enforcement.
- Operational Inefficiencies: Bloated permissions complicate investigations, provisioning, and offboarding.
Access Analyzers mitigate these risks by providing continuous visibility into permission usage, enabling informed and proactive access management.
Two Approaches to Cloud Permission Management
1. Ground-Up Approach
This approach involves granting fine-grained permissions from the outset, tightly aligning access to specific tasks. While it offers precision, it demands significant upfront effort and coordination, making it less suitable for rapidly evolving environments.
However, the Ground-Up Approach is more relevant and often necessary for highly sensitive environments and heavily regulated industries, such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, where strict access controls and detailed auditability are mandatory.
2. Top-Down Approach with Access Analyzers
Starting with broader, coarse-grained permissions, organizations use Access Analyzer insights to iteratively refine and remove unnecessary access. This method aligns better with agile, cloud-native operations.
Why Top-Down Wins:
- Supports rapid scaling without overburdening teams.
- Enables continuous rightsizing based on real-world usage.
- Reduces initial deployment friction.
- Reflects the reality that many companies are already operating with some level of overprovisioned access, making a gradual refinement approach more pragmatic and achievable.
Bonus: With Axiom, we take this further by leveraging runtime authorization to build custom least-privilege roles on the fly, dynamically aligned to real-time identity, context, and task. But that’s a story for another post.
Best Practices for Using Access Analyzers Effectively
1. Start Broad, Then Refine Assign non-admin, functional roles initially. Analyze real access patterns over time to remove unused permissions.
2. Build Strong RBAC Foundations Segment roles into privileged and non-privileged categories. Define access based on responsibilities, minimizing blanket permissions.
3. Implement Just-in-Time (JIT) Privilege Elevation Privileged roles should not be assigned permanently. Instead, use JIT models to grant elevated access temporarily, based on documented business needs. This dramatically reduces standing privileges.
4. Conduct Continuous Monitoring and Reviews Rather than only periodic reviews, leverage continuous monitoring capabilities to respond to permission drift and maintain least-privilege posture.
5. Adapt to Industry Requirements Industries like finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure demand stricter access policies. Configure Access Analyzers to enforce more conservative baselines where regulatory requirements are stringent.
The Big Picture Benefits of Access Analyzers
- Enhanced Security: Minimize the attack surface by removing unnecessary permissions.
- Operational Efficiency: Shift from manual reviews to continuous, data-driven rightsizing.
- Simplified Compliance: Provide audit-ready visibility into access decisions and least-privilege enforcement.
- Cost Optimization: Identify and clean up idle resources tied to unused permissions.
Native analyzers are foundational, but their capabilities can be further amplified with a modern platform approach.
Why Native Access Analyzers Aren’t Enough
While AWS IAM Access Analyzer, Google Cloud Policy Analyzer, and Microsoft Entra Permissions Management provided critical visibility, each has inherent limitations:
- No automated remediation workflows.
- Limited multi-cloud orchestration.
- Lack of advanced contextual analysis (e.g., device posture, session risk).
Special Note on Azure: Microsoft Entra Permissions Management will retire on October 1, 2025. Organizations are advised to plan their transition early, either by partnering with recommended CIEM providers like Delinea or by implementing advanced multi-cloud access governance solutions.
How Axiom Enhances Access Analyzers:
- Automation Beyond Native Tools: Streamline least-privilege enforcement across cloud, SaaS, and databases.
- Contextual Intelligence: Dynamically adjust permissions based on real-time identity, device, and environmental signals.
- Just-In-Time Access: Provision privileges exactly when needed and revoke them automatically.
The Outcome:
- Accelerated secure deployments.
- Continuous compliance without the manual burden.
- A frictionless, scalable security model for modern enterprises.
Take the Next Step Toward Least-Privilege Access
Start today by auditing your permissions with AWS IAM Access Analyzer, Google Cloud Policy Analyzer, or Microsoft Entra Permissions Management (while available). Then, elevate your access strategy with Axiom to automate least-privilege control across your multi-cloud environment.
👉 Book a demo with an Axiom expert and build your future-ready cloud security foundation.
