Most breaches and audit findings involving access share the same roots: people keep access they no longer need, contractors outlive their tickets, and “temporary” admin rights become permanent.
Permission creep happens quietly as employees change roles. Without automated movers and reviews, entitlements accumulate until a SoD conflict or ex-employee account becomes an incident.
Joiner–Mover–Leaver (JML) discipline is the backbone of governance. Day-one access should be least privilege; role changes should recalculate entitlements; leavers should lose access in minutes, not weeks — with an audit trail that proves it.
Regulators and frameworks (SOX, HIPAA, ISO 27001, NIS2, DORA) increasingly expect evidence of continuous access control — not a spreadsheet from last quarter. IGA platforms turn that expectation into campaigns, alerts, and exportable proof.
Governance also speeds the business: faster onboarding, fewer help-desk tickets for access, and clearer ownership of who approved what. That is why identity programs show up in board risk discussions alongside cloud and ransomware.