Staying one step ahead of the breach

From privilege sprawl to token theft, identity threats are evolving faster than ever. But the answer isn't more friction, it's smarter context, risk signals, and automation. Here's what it takes to secure trust at machine speed

- Harsh Sharma [e-mail]

Cybersecurity isn't just about walls and firewalls anymore. These days, the real danger often comes through the front door, your login screen.

That's because identities have become the easiest way in for attackers. With people and devices logging in from everywhere-cloud tools, remote work, mobile apps—keeping things locked down has gotten trickier. And just having a password or a job title isn't enough to know who should get access.

Sumit Rajan Srivastava, Solutions Engineering Director, CyberArk, broke it all down in a conversation with PCQuest. His take? Identity security needs to be flexible, smart, and always paying attention.

Why who you are isn't all that matters

Most companies used to give access based on your job role. If you were a database admin, you got full database access. Simple.

But that doesn't work anymore. Now it matters when you're logging in, where from, and what you're doing. Systems need to look at the full picture, not just your job title.

Instead of saying “yes” or “no” once at login, modern systems keep checking risk as you go. They look at behavior like whether you're logging in from a new location or suddenly accessing sensitive data at 2 a.m.

If something seems off, they can ask you to re-authenticate, block you for safety, or flag it for review. It's like a smart bouncerwatching quietly, stepping in only when needed.

MFA isn't a magic shield

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is everywhere now. But just because a system has MFA doesn't mean it's secure.