Identity Is the New Control Plane

Over the past year, cybersecurity has seen a significant shift, with identity now being the primary risk surface rather than just a layer in the defense-in-depth model, as revealed in the 2026 State of Identity & Access (SOIA) Report. The report highlights that today's most disruptive breaches often originate from identity weaknesses such as dormant accounts, orphaned logins, and machine identities without owners, rather than traditional malware or vulnerabilities. Despite investments in identity and access management (IAM) technologies, identity risks are accelerating due to structural issues, as identity creation outpaces governance processes, leading to permission sprawl and identity debt beyond the capacity of traditional IAM programs. A notable trend is the rise of non-human identities, such as service accounts and AI agents, which are becoming the industry's largest attack surface due to their concentrated power and lack of governance. The report also emphasizes the challenge of entitlement sprawl, where organizations struggle to manage complex and abundant permissions, creating opportunities for attackers. Additionally, unresolved risks such as human offboarding, MFA gaps, and orphaned accounts remain significant vulnerabilities. The SOIA Report underscores that identity risk is now a critical business health indicator, affecting regulatory exposure, operational resilience, AI governance, and cyber insurance, marking the transition to an "Authorization Era" where identity security requires continuous visibility into permissions as a business-wide initiative.