Why access should only ever be temporary

Opening thoughts

In an era of increasing cyber threats, evolving roles, and the widespread adoption of SaaS tools, maintaining strict, long-term access control is no longer sustainable. Security and efficiency demand a shift toward temporary access—granting permissions only when needed and for a limited time. This approach minimizes security risks, reduces unnecessary license costs, and aligns with modern identity management practices.

In this piece, we’ll explore why temporary access should be the standard across organizations by covering the following key areas:

1. The rise of distributed tool ownership
2. The surge in identity-based attacks
3. When Roles become fluid: Rethinking RBAC
4. Readily available SSO & SCIM
5. The impact of the economic environment

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1. The rise of distributed tool ownership

In recent years, the way organizations manage and distribute tools has shifted dramatically. Historically, IT departments held a tight grip over which tools were approved and deployed across the organization. However, with the rapid rise of SaaS platforms and the changing expectations of a more empowered workforce, this centralized control has started to loosen.

Now, employees across departments have the autonomy to choose the tools they believe best fit their needs, whether for collaboration, project management, or specialized tasks. This democratization of tool ownership has driven productivity and innovation, but it has also introduced new challenges in managing access and security. 

1.1 Greater autonomy, more complexity

With teams and departments independently adopting their own tools, organizations face increasing complexity in managing access control. Previously, IT departments handled centralized procurement and access management, which made it easier to track who had access to which systems. Now, each department may be responsible for managing access within their own toolset, which creates silos and an inconsistent approach to access governance.

This greater autonomy complicates the ability to track permissions across the organization. Temporary access becomes essential in such a distributed environment.. For instance, an employee who temporarily joins a cross-functional project might need access to certain tools only for the duration of the project. Without time-limited access, they could retain that access indefinitely, introducing unnecessary risk and administrative overhead when they no longer need it.

In this context, temporary access helps maintain an agile but secure organization. It allows employees to take full advantage of the tools they need without adding to the long-term complexity of access management. 

1.2 Increased shadow IT risks

As more teams adopt their own tools, it’s easier for shadow IT (unapproved technology use) to emerge. Employees might start using software that hasn’t been sanctioned by IT, especially when they don’t have immediate access to the official tools they need. Shadow IT can expose the organization to security vulnerabilities, data leaks, and compliance issues, all while remaining out of sight from IT teams.

Temporary access can significantly reduce shadow IT risks. When employees know they can get quick, short-term access to the tools they need, they are less likely to resort to unauthorized alternatives. By granting temporary, on-demand access to official systems, organizations ensure that tools are used within the boundaries of security policies and that all access is properly logged and monitored. 

1.3 Agility vs. security tension

The rise of distributed ownership allows teams to be more agile and responsive to their needs, but this agility often conflicts with security protocols. Teams want to move fast, and security wants to keep the organization safe. Temporary access strikes the right balance between these two priorities.

For instance, when a new tool is required for a short-term project, granting temporary access enables the team to start working quickly, without waiting for complex approval processes. At the same time, security teams benefit because the access will expire automatically when it’s no longer needed, reducing the risk of dormant or unused accounts being exploited in a breach.

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2. The surge in identity-based attacks

As cyber threats continue to evolve, identity has become a primary target for attackers. Modern security breaches often start with compromised credentials, as attackers leverage stolen or weakly protected identities to infiltrate systems and networks. The rise of sophisticated phishing schemes, credential stuffing, and social engineering has made it increasingly difficult to protect static user accounts.

This shifting landscape makes minimizing an employee's attack surface a crucial element of modern security strategies. By limiting the duration of access, organizations can minimize the impact of identity-based attacks, reducing the opportunity for malicious actors to exploit credentials long-term. 

2.1 Reduced attack surface

The longer an individual has access to a system, the larger the attack surface becomes. Each account, whether actively used or not, represents an entry point that can be exploited by attackers. The more accounts left with standing access, the more opportunities there are for bad actors to find a vulnerability and gain entry.

Temporary access directly addresses this risk by minimizing the period during which any one set of credentials can be used. If a user only has access for the exact time frame in which they need it, the window of opportunity for an attacker is significantly reduced. Even if credentials are compromised, the likelihood that those credentials remain valid long enough for an attacker to cause harm is much lower.

2.2 Least privilege becomes actionable

The principle of least privilege is one of the cornerstones of cybersecurity. It dictates that users should only have the minimum necessary access to perform their job functions. While this principle is widely accepted, in practice, many organizations struggle to enforce it due to the complexity of managing access rights across evolving teams and projects.

Temporary access policies make the least privilege principle easier to implement and sustain. By automatically limiting access to a specific time frame, organizations can ensure that users only have access to the systems and tools they need, when they need them, and not beyond that point. This is especially important as roles and responsibilities shift—what was once “necessary access” can quickly become over-privileged access.

2.3 Lingering stale access

In many cases, security breaches occur not because of a lack of protection but due to lingering vulnerabilities—such as old accounts with long-forgotten credentials. Attackers frequently target dormant accounts, using them as entry points into otherwise secure systems. Without a mechanism to automatically revoke access, these dormant accounts can remain a security risk indefinitely.

Temporary access introduces a layer of proactive risk mitigation by ensuring that accounts and permissions automatically expire after a set period. 

For example, if a contractor requires access to specific systems for a three-month engagement, temporary access policies ensure that, once that time is up, the account will be disabled. This removes the chance of the account becoming a vulnerability long after the contractor is gone, providing ongoing protection against identity-based attacks.

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3. When roles become fluid: Rethinking RBAC

The traditional concept of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) assumes that an individual’s job role within an organization defines the level of access they need. However, in today’s fast-paced, dynamic work environments, roles have become increasingly fluid. Employees frequently shift responsibilities, join cross-functional teams, or engage in project-based work that requires different tools and levels of access than what their formal role would suggest.

This fluidity makes static RBAC models difficult to maintain. The challenge lies in ensuring that employees have the access they need to get their work done without opening the door to excessive or prolonged permissions. Temporary access offers a solution by allowing organizations to adapt access controls to fit the shifting nature of modern roles and teams.

3.1 Evolving roles require flexible access

Traditional access control models often struggle to keep up with the evolving nature of roles in an organization. Employees are no longer confined to rigidly defined job descriptions. They might take on new responsibilities, collaborate with different teams, or join temporary project groups, all of which require varying levels of access to different systems.

Temporary access provides the flexibility needed to manage this fluidity. Instead of granting permanent access based on a role that may no longer reflect an employee’s day-to-day tasks, temporary access ensures that employees can gain the permissions they need for specific projects or periods. This flexibility reduces the risk of granting excessive access based on outdated or incomplete role definitions, helping organizations stay responsive to change while keeping security in check.

3.2 Cross-functional teams and projects

Modern organizations thrive on collaboration, and cross-functional teams are becoming the norm rather than the exception. Employees often need access to tools and systems outside their immediate department or core responsibilities when working on collaborative initiatives. In these cases, traditional RBAC systems can either fail to provide adequate access or overcompensate by granting unnecessary, permanent permissions.

For example, if a marketing team member needs temporary access to sales analytics tools for a joint campaign, that access can be granted for the life of the project, but won’t persist afterward, keeping permissions lean and specific to current needs.

3.3 Access relevance declines over time

As roles evolve, so does the relevance of the access employees have. What might have been necessary for an employee at one point may no longer be relevant as their job responsibilities change. However, in many organizations, access is granted on a permanent basis and often never revoked, leaving old permissions lingering in the system long after they are needed.

Temporary access eliminates this issue by design. By limiting access to a set timeframe, organizations can ensure that employees only retain the access that’s actively relevant to their current role or project. Once that need has passed, the access automatically expires, preventing unnecessary and potentially harmful accumulation of permissions.

This dynamic approach to access ensures that organizations can more effectively manage the lifecycle of permissions, reducing security risks and making access policies more aligned with real-world needs. In an environment where roles are constantly evolving, this flexibility is essential to maintaining security without stifling productivity.

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4. Readily available SSO & SCIM

In recent years, Single Sign-On (SSO) and System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) have revolutionized how organizations handle access and identity management. These technologies enable businesses to streamline user authentication and automate the provisioning and deprovisioning of access to various tools and systems.

SSO consolidates multiple application logins into a single, secure authentication process, reducing password fatigue and strengthening security. SCIM automates user lifecycle management, allowing organizations to synchronize user identities across platforms. Together, these advancements make it easier to implement and manage temporary access, ensuring that permissions are granted and revoked efficiently.

4.1 Effortless access management is now possible

Before the advent of SSO and SCIM, managing access across multiple platforms was a manual, time-consuming process. IT departments had to handle requests to provision and deprovision access individually, creating bottlenecks that slowed down productivity and increased the risk of errors.

With SSO and SCIM, access management has become much more streamlined. Temporary access can now be easily granted and revoked across all tools a user needs, all from a single system. For example, when a new employee joins the company, SCIM automatically provisions access to the appropriate tools based on their role. When their assignment ends, deprovisioning occurs just as seamlessly, without requiring manual intervention from IT teams.

By leveraging these technologies, organizations can adopt temporary access policies without increasing the administrative burden. SSO allows employees to authenticate once and gain access to all their tools, while SCIM ensures that those tools are only accessible for the time they’re needed.

4.2 Automated deprovisioning

One of the biggest challenges organizations face is ensuring that access is revoked when it’s no longer needed. Employees may leave the company, switch departments, or complete short-term projects, but in many cases, their access to tools and systems remains active long after they’re gone.

SCIM provisioning solves this problem by automating the deprovisioning process. When an employee’s role or project ends, SCIM can automatically revoke their access to all associated tools and systems. This eliminates the risk of human error in forgetting to remove access and ensures that dormant accounts don’t linger in the system, reducing the overall attack surface.

Temporary access becomes even more powerful when combined with SCIM’s automated deprovisioning capabilities. Rather than relying on manual oversight, organizations can set access to expire at predetermined times, ensuring that permissions are always aligned with current business needs.

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5.The impact of the economic environment

The current economic landscape is pushing organizations to carefully scrutinize their spending across all areas of business. With inflationary pressures, uncertain market conditions, and tighter budgets, companies are more focused than ever on cutting costs where possible. One area that often goes unnoticed in cost-reduction strategies is software license management.

With SaaS solutions becoming the dominant model for business tools, many organizations have accumulated a wide range of licenses for different applications. These licenses, however, often remain active long after employees or teams no longer need them, leading to unnecessary expenses. 

5.1 Avoiding unused licenses

Unused or underutilized software licenses can quietly eat away at a company’s budget. In many cases, licenses are purchased for long-term use, but as employee needs change, or projects end, those licenses may go unrevoked, leading to waste.

Temporary access policies prevent this by automatically limiting the duration of a user’s access to a tool. Once the period of need is over, the license can be reassigned or deactivated, ensuring that the company only pays for licenses when they are actively used. This approach keeps software expenses in check, particularly when tools are needed only for short-term projects or when an employee’s responsibilities change.

In a practical sense, by applying temporary access, companies can perform regular audits and recover licenses that would otherwise sit idle. This proactive approach helps avoid the common trap of “license hoarding,” where users retain access to tools they no longer need, resulting in inflated software budgets.

5.2 Pay-as-you-go mindset

The shift toward SaaS tools has already encouraged organizations to think in terms of pay-as-you-go models rather than purchasing perpetual licenses. Temporary access policies extend this concept further by ensuring that licenses are dynamically allocated and removed based on actual usage.

By adopting a pay-as-you-go mindset for access, organizations can ensure they are getting the maximum value from their software investments. When access is granted only when needed, businesses can align their spending directly with operational demands. For example, if a project team only needs access to a specific design tool for a two-month sprint, providing temporary access allows the company to avoid paying for unused months, aligning costs directly with the duration of need.

5.3 Simplified auditing and cost control

With many organizations juggling dozens, if not hundreds, of different software applications, keeping track of who has access to what can be a daunting task. Temporary access policies simplify this by making it easier to manage, track, and audit software usage.

When access is temporary by default, organizations can more easily conduct regular audits of their license usage. This ensures that they’re not paying for licenses that aren’t being used, and it also provides valuable data on which tools are truly essential. Over time, this can lead to more strategic decision-making around software procurement, enabling companies to prioritize spending on the most critical tools while cutting back on underutilized software.

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Closing thoughts

In today’s ever-evolving digital landscape, security leaders must adapt to the growing complexity of managing access across distributed tools, fluid roles, and rising cyber threats. Permanent access models no longer align with the fast-paced, collaborative environments that organizations operate in. By embracing temporary access, security teams can significantly reduce risks, control costs, and ensure that permissions are always aligned with current needs.

The tools to manage access dynamically—SSO, SCIM, and flexible access policies—are already at our fingertips. It’s time to rethink the way we manage identities and permissions. Implementing temporary access ensures a stronger security posture, reduces your attack surface, and helps your organization stay agile without compromising safety.

For those responsible for safeguarding sensitive data and critical systems, the question is no longer if temporary access should be implemented, but how soon you can begin deploying it. The benefits are clear: reduced risk, improved efficiency, and a more secure future.