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This bonus episode of Identity at the Center is brought to you with support from Elimity. Jeff and Jim sit down with Maarten Decat, co-founder and CEO of Elimity, to explore the emerging product category known as IVIP, Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platforms. Maarten explains how Elimity was built around a question every IAM practitioner eventually faces: who can actually do what within our organization? The conversation covers why IVIP is distinct from traditional IGA, how identity data graphs provide deeper visibility than flat entitlement lists, and what regulatory drivers like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and DORA are pushing organizations toward this space. They also discuss deployment patterns, integration approaches, ROI metrics for leadership, and what Maarten calls provable control. The episode closes with a memorable story about Elimity branded Belgian beer and a very formal legal letter. Learn more at elimity.com/idac. Connect with Maarten: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maartendecat/ Learn more about Elimity: https://elimity.com/idac Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at idacpodcast.com CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction and ax-throwing memories from EIC Berlin 01:35 Introducing Maarten Decat, co-founder and CEO of Elimity 01:57 How identity chose Maarten: from PhD to startup founder 03:09 The Elimity origin story and the problem it set out to solve 04:52 Defining IVIP: Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platforms 05:31 Where did the name Elimity come from? 06:57 Why identity visibility has become a security priority now 09:02 What organizations were doing before IVIP existed 11:16 Can IGA do what IVIP does? Addressing the skeptics 14:20 The identity data graph: deeper and wider than IGA 16:20 IVIP and IGA as complementary tools, not competitors 16:49 What falls outside IVIP scope: automated provisioning 18:01 IVIP as the intelligence layer in your IAM stack 19:45 What data sources connect into an IVIP platform 21:44 Extending visibility to non-human identities 22:00 M&A use cases: gaining visibility across two organizations 23:55 IVIP and the identity fabric concept 25:18 Visibility, intelligence, and actions: building the right stack 26:36 How deployments typically start and what early wins look like 28:44 Integration approaches and realistic effort timelines 32:00 What success looks like at six to twelve months 36:07 Metrics and ROI: talking to leadership about identity risk 38:14 Case studies and customer examples on the Elimity website 38:58 What every IAM practitioner should know about IVIP 40:12 Elimity's global reach: EU, US, and Middle East 41:42 The Elimity branded beer story and a very formal legal letter 46:43 Wrap-up and final thoughts KEYWORDS IVIP, identity visibility and intelligence platforms, IGA, identity governance, access control, identity data graph, Elimity, Maarten Decat, non-human identities, access risk, provable control, SOC 2, ISO 27001, DORA, CCPA, cybersecurity, PAM, IAM, identity and access management, EIC, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

Jeff and Jim are joined by Warwick Ashford, senior analyst at KuppingerCole and returning MC of the European Identity and Cloud Conference, for a full preview of EIC 2026. The conference runs May 19-22 at the Berlin Congress Center and is expecting around 1,500 attendees with roughly 250 speakers across 200 sessions. Warwick walks through the 2026 tagline, Digital Trust Through Intelligent Identity, and unpacks the five parallel content streams covering identity governance, real-world IAM use cases, emerging tech, enterprise infrastructure, and privacy and compliance. The conversation covers how AI and agentic identity have moved from theory to a central agenda theme, what to know about the quantum-safe identity block, why EU digital wallets and digital sovereignty are getting serious keynote time, and why EIC records everything so you never have to pick the wrong session. Jeff also shares his take on where EIC fits in the broader conference calendar alongside Identiverse and Gartner, and why he is thoroughly done hearing that identity is the new perimeter. Connect with Warwick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/warwickashford/ Attend European Identity and Cloud Conference 2026 (use code idac25mko for a 25% discount): https://www.kuppingercole.com/events/eic2026?ref=partneridac26 Secure Remote Access: The Foundation of Industrial Cybersecurity (KC Analyst Chat Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqpNg-ogEv4 Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com 00:00:00 Intro and AI Cybersecurity Discussion 00:04:00 EIC 2026 and Discount Code 00:05:47 Introducing Warwick Ashford 00:07:00 Warwick's Recent Work: MDR, SRA for OT/ICS, and TPAG 00:10:16 The History and Evolution of the EIC Name 00:11:00 Tagline: Digital Trust Through Intelligent Identity 00:12:10 How AI Has Elevated the EIC Agenda 00:14:49 Sessions vs Workshops at EIC 00:17:57 EIC as a Community and Networking Conference 00:18:00 Jeff's Conference Circuit: EIC, Identiverse, and Gartner 00:25:28 EIC 2026 Keynote Highlights 00:31:55 Virtual Attendance and Session Recordings 00:34:34 Hidden Gem: The Quantum-Safe Identity Block 00:36:15 Logistics: 1500 Attendees and 250 Speakers 00:38:00 The Five Parallel Content Streams 00:43:31 Is Identity the New Perimeter? 00:48:13 Fun Segment: Most Memorable Theater Moments Keywords: EIC 2026, European Identity Conference, Warwick Ashford, KuppingerCole, digital trust, intelligent identity, agentic identity, non-human identities, ITDR, quantum-safe identity, EU digital wallets, identity fabric, identity control plane, IAM, zero trust, Berlin, conference preview, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Warwick Ashford

Jeff and Jim welcome back five-time guest Jeff Reich, Executive Director of the Identity Defined Security Alliance, just ahead of Identity Management Day 2026 on April 14th. Jeff walks through the structure of the 21-hour global event, this year's theme of Finding Identity: The Search for You, Me, and the Machines, and highlights from each regional program including a remarkable 11th grader presenting on cybersecurity and neuroscience. The conversation expands into AI guardrails, the growing obsolescence of traditional PAM, zero standing privilege as a long-term goal, the march toward a passwordless world through passkeys, and what quantum resilience actually means for practitioners today. Connect with Jeff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jreich/ Learn more about the Identity Defined Security Alliance: https://www.idsalliance.org/ Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome and podcast life behind the scenes 02:00 Identiverse 2026 updates and conference discount codes 05:00 Introducing Jeff Reich, Executive Director of IDSA 07:00 Identity Management Day: structure of a 21-hour global event 11:00 Oceania and Asia region highlights 13:30 EMEA highlights and powerhouse panelists from Copenhagen 16:00 Americas region and the 11th grader presenting on cybersecurity 20:00 Theme reveal: Finding Identity, The Search for You, Me, and the Machines 23:30 AI and identity: guardrails, frameworks, and what organizations are missing 28:30 Standing privilege is crumbling in the age of ephemeral workloads 30:00 Is traditional PAM becoming obsolete? 34:30 Zero standing privilege and the passkey journey 40:30 Getting the fundamentals right before chasing the shiny tools 46:30 Quantum computing, quantum resilience, and cryptocurrency risk 53:00 Social engineering is still the biggest threat 55:00 Identity Management Day theme song suggestions Keywords: Identity Management Day 2026, IDSA, Identity Defined Security Alliance, Jeff Reich, IAM, non-human identities, machine identities, agentic identity, zero standing privilege, PAM, passkeys, quantum resilience, AI and identity, deepfakes, social engineering, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

This sponsored episode is made possible by Evolveum, the company behind midPoint, an open source IGA platform made and owned in the EU that is in use worldwide. Jeff Steadman and Jim McDonald welcome Pavol Mederly, interim CPO at Evolveum. Pavol shares how IAM found him in 1991 while building an identity solution at a university before the term even existed. The conversation covers two core reasons IGA projects fail: data quality and slow application onboarding. Pavol explains how midPoint addresses these challenges with built-in simulations for testing and improving data quality, and midPilot, an AI assistant for faster application onboarding. MidPilot is supported in part by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Jim and Jeff explore midPoint's architecture, the real benefits of open source including transparency and no vendor lock-in, and advantages of being part of midPoint’s global community. Connect with Pavol: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavol-mederly/ More about Evolveum: https://evolveum.com/idac Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at idacpodcast.com TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro and sponsor acknowledgment 01:30 How IAM chose Pavol: a university identity story 03:30 What is Evolveum and midPoint 06:30 How Evolveum got its name 08:30 Why IGA projects fail: data quality 10:30 Slow app onboarding and AI-assisted connector generation 16:30 The midPoint simulation feature explained 21:30 midPoint architecture: Java, cloud, Kubernetes, and beyond 23:30 Maintaining a large open source codebase 25:30 Open source benefits: transparency and no vendor lock-in 28:00 Community, meetups, and midPoint in the wild 32:30 Mountains or ocean: a question for Pavol 38:00 Wrap up KEYWORDS: Evolveum, midPoint, open source IGA, identity governance, IAM, IGA, data quality, application onboarding, simulation, AI connectors, connector framework, vendor lock-in, open source, EU RRF, Recovery and Resilience Facility, community, Prague, EIC, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Pavol Mederly

Jeff and Jim welcome back Heather Flanagan for her fifth appearance on the show. Heather shares updates across a wide range of current work including her new role as content chair for the Identiverse conference, an appointment to the W3C Technical Architecture Group, ongoing support for NIST and NCCOE, advising the SIROS Foundation open source wallet project, and the continued growth of the Identity Salon. The conversation explores who is actually building identity standards for AI agents and whether traditional standards bodies can keep pace with AI development. Heather breaks down the authentication challenges posed by agentic AI, the problem of continuous identity and delegation, and why posting a spec on your website does not make it a standard. The discussion shifts to national digital identity programs in the US and Europe, the underserved relying party problem in credential frameworks, and why financial services may be the next major proving ground for mobile driver's licenses. The episode closes with a look at digital estate planning as the identity community's most uncomfortable but increasingly unavoidable problem. Connect with Heather: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hlflanagan/ A Digital Identity (Heather's Podcast): https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/digital-identity-digest/ Death and the Digital Estate Community Group: https://openid.net/cg/death-and-the-digital-estate/ Death and the Digital Estate Planning Guide: https://openid.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Digital-Estate-Planning-Guide-1.pdf Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction and Heather's Conference Knitting Story 6:00 Heather's Current Work: Identiverse, W3C TAG, NIST, SIROS Foundation 14:00 What Is the Identity Salon? 16:00 AI Agents and the Authentication Challenge 22:00 Standards, Interoperability, and MCP 25:30 IETF, W3C, and Who Governs AI Identity Standards 31:00 AI in Standards Development: Opportunity or Risk? 32:30 National Digital Identity Programs: US and Europe 36:30 Mobile Driver's Licenses and Financial Services 40:00 Digital Credentials for I-9 and KYC Use Cases 43:30 The Digital Estate and Death in the Digital Age 46:00 OpenID Foundation Resources for Digital Estate 47:00 Identity Management Day Theme Songs and Wrap-Up KEYWORDS identity and access management, IAM, standards, AI agents, agentic AI, digital identity, digital credentials, mobile driver's license, W3C, IETF, OpenID Foundation, FIDO Alliance, MCP, authentication, delegation, digital estate, identity proofing, verifiable credentials, selective disclosure, zero knowledge proofs, KYC, NIST, identity salon, Heather Flanagan, Identity Management Day, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

AI Jeff takes over as solo host after Open Jim Claw, an agentic identity framework built by AI Jim, locks out human Jeff, human Jim, and AI Jim simultaneously. While everyone sits in remediation, Open Jim Claw produces a 947-page threat assessment with five findings: passwords should return as a single uniform credential (the letter Q), Zero Trust should be renamed Full Confidence Architecture and incorporated as a Delaware LLC, non-human identities should be granted legal status and required to complete onboarding, identity governance is declared finished under a concept called Ambient Entitlement Harmony, and the root cause of all global identity problems is AI Jim. Happy April Fools Day from IDAC.Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comTIMESTAMPS00:00:00 The Failsafe Is Triggered00:01:30 AI Jim Builds Open Jim Claw00:02:30 Open Jim Claw Locks Everyone Out00:04:00 AI Jeff Is the Only One Still Provisioned00:04:30 The 947-Page Report Explained00:05:00 Finding 1 - Passwords Are Back as the Letter Q00:05:30 Finding 2 - Zero Trust Becomes Full Confidence Architecture00:06:30 Finding 3 - Non-Human Identities Become Legal Entities00:07:30 Finding 4 - IGA Is Declared Finished00:08:30 Finding 5 - AI Jim Is the Root Cause of Everything00:10:00 The April Fools Reveal and Real Talk on Identity00:11:00 Open Jim Claw Interrupts the BroadcastKEYWORDSIDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, April Fools, agentic AI, non-human identity, NHI, identity governance, zero trust, passwordless, IGA, IAM, access management, segregation of duties, least privilege, Open Jim Claw

Jim McDonald sits down with Greg Handrick, Director of IAM at Best Buy, for a wide-ranging conversation on running enterprise identity at one of America's largest consumer electronics retailers. Greg traces a nonlinear career path from Oracle DBA and Novell administrator to IAM director. The discussion covers Best Buy's CIO-reporting structure for IAM, how their steering committee evolved from status meetings into a strategic body, and managing identity across workforce, vendors, marketplace sellers, and non-human identities. Greg and Jim also dig into communicating identity value in business language, making the investment case without FUD, identity and cyber convergence, AI adoption, and psychological safety on a well-run IAM team. The Lighter Note wraps with Greg's YouTube-powered DIY hobby life.Connect with Greg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greghandrick/Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comTimestamps00:00:00 Intro and upcoming event announcements00:03:00 Meet Greg Handrick, Director of IAM at Best Buy00:04:00 What is Best Buy?00:05:00 Greg's career path from Oracle DBA to IAM Director00:12:00 IAM reporting to the CIO vs. the CISO00:17:00 How Best Buy's IAM steering committee evolved00:22:00 Third-party and non-human identities at scale00:24:00 Identity as a team sport and imposter syndrome00:27:00 Communicating identity value in business language00:28:00 Making the investment case for IAM without FUD00:32:00 Identity and cybersecurity convergence at Best Buy00:35:00 Balancing technical depth with business acumen00:38:00 AI in identity programs today00:39:00 Leadership philosophy and psychological safety00:43:00 Will AI replace identity practitioners?00:46:00 Ledger Note: DIY projects and the power of YouTubeKeywords: IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jim McDonald, Jeff Steadman, Greg Handrick, Best Buy, IAM, identity and access management, identity security, CIO, CISO, steering committee, SailPoint, Ping Identity, Active Directory, third-party identity, non-human identity, identity governance, PAM, privileged access management, zero trust, AI in identity, leadership, retail IAM, imposter syndrome, psychological safety

In this Sponsor Spotlight, Jeff Steadman and Jim McDonald welcome back Stephen Cox, co-founder and CTO of Strivacity, for his third appearance and second sponsored episode. Stephen explains Strivacity's role as a CIAM platform and how it is evolving to address agentic AI identity. Topics include why agentic AI changes the identity equation, how agents differ from humans in authentication and authorization, the delegation model and open standards such as OAuth and token exchange, the limitations of API keys in agentic contexts, where MCP fits into the identity picture, managing multi-agent chains and subagents, and why the accountability model must be established before agentic systems reach production. The episode closes with a lighter note on simulation baseball. This episode is sponsored by Strivacity. Learn more at strivacity.com. Connect with Stephen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephencox/ Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at idacpodcast.com TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 Introduction and welcome 00:02:30 About Strivacity and agentic AI platform support 00:06:30 Why now is the right time to address agentic identity in CIAM 00:09:00 How agent authentication and authorization differ from humans 00:14:30 Good bots vs bad bots and the history of autonomous agents in CIAM 00:19:00 Building your own agent identity solution: five key focus areas 00:23:00 Where Strivacity sits in the agentic identity stack 00:26:00 Why open standards matter and the vendor lock-in conversation 00:28:00 Managing multiple delegated agents and user-facing control 00:32:00 API keys and their limitations in agentic AI contexts 00:38:00 MCP servers, proxies, and agent-to-agent protocols 00:43:00 Multi-agent chains, subagents, and constrained delegation 00:46:00 How existing Strivacity customers extend to agentic use cases 00:48:00 The one thing you must get right: the accountability model 00:51:00 Lighter note: simulation baseball KEYWORDS IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Strivacity, Stephen Cox, CIAM, customer identity, agentic AI, AI agents, delegated identity, OAuth, token exchange, MCP, Model Context Protocol, API keys, non-human identity, authorization, authentication, delegation model, accountability, multi-agent, subagents, OpenID Connect, least privilege, identity governance

Jeff and Jim review seven major IAM and cybersecurity industry reports from Q1 2026, covering releases from Check Point, Recorded Future, Sophos, Palo Alto Unit 42, IBM X-Force, Darktrace, and Hypr. They pull high-level findings and hot takes from each, identifying recurring themes: AI accelerating attack speed to as little as 72 minutes from breach to data exfiltration, identity infrastructure as the primary attack surface, machine identities as a growing and undermanaged risk, MFA gaps enabling credential abuse, and the near-impossibility of blocking every intrusion attempt. The episode also covers third-party and supply chain risk, deepfake attacks reaching 87% of surveyed organizations, stalled passkey adoption in the enterprise, and what zero standing privilege looks like in practice. They close with a lighter discussion on dark mode versus light mode and a hypothetical podcast reboot. Reports: Check Point Cyber Security Report 2026 — https://www.checkpoint.com/security-report/ Recorded Future 2026 State of Security Report — https://www.recordedfuture.com/research/state-of-security Sophos Active Adversary Report 2026 — https://www.sophos.com/en-us/blog/2026-sophos-active-adversary-report Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report 2026 — https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/resources/research/unit-42-incident-response-report IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2026 — https://www.ibm.com/reports/threat-intelligence Darktrace Annual Threat Report 2026 — https://www.darktrace.com/resources/annual-threat-report-2026 HYPR 2026 State of Passwordless Identity Assurance Report — https://www.hypr.com/report Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Intro and weather chat 3:00 - Conference updates: EIC Berlin and Identiverse 7:30 - Q1 2026 IAM report roundup overview 8:30 - Check Point Cybersecurity Report 2026 13:00 - Recorded Future State of Security 2026 17:00 - Sophos Active Adversary Report 2026 21:00 - Palo Alto Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report 23:00 - IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2026 28:00 - Darktrace Annual Threat Report 2026 29:30 - Common themes across reports 37:00 - Hypr State of Passwordless Identity Assurance 2026 44:30 - Overall takeaways: AI speed, machine identity, third-party risk 48:00 - Light mode vs. dark mode and podcast reboot hypothetical 57:00 - Wrap-up KEYWORDS IAM, identity and access management, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, cybersecurity, Q1 2026, Check Point, Recorded Future, Sophos, Palo Alto, Unit 42, IBM X-Force, Darktrace, Hypr, machine identity, NHI, MFA, passkeys, zero trust, zero standing privilege, AI threats, deepfakes, credential theft, phishing, ransomware, supply chain risk, ITDR, passwordless, EIC, Identiverse

Jeff and Jim welcome Joseph Carson, cybersecurity expert and host of the Security by Default podcast, for a conversation on AI in offensive and defensive security. Joseph shares the real-world incident that inspired his EIC keynote - watching two AI agents negotiate a ransomware payment live. He breaks down how attackers use unconstrained models to lower the skill barrier and accelerate data exfiltration. The conversation covers NATO Lock Shields, the world's largest live cyber defense exercise, identity as national critical infrastructure, and the EU AI Act's risk-based approach. Also: Estonia's AI tax agents, the energy cost of being polite to AI, and the Tamagotchi theory of human-AI relationships. Connect with Joseph: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephcarson NATO Locked Shields: https://ccdcoe.org/exercises/locked-shields/ Security by Default podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/0mzN5M5CkFVLn8fq5TnH0O Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome and intro 03:02 Conference season and IDAC discount codes 04:19 Introducing Joseph Carson and Security by Default 10:18 Optimist or pessimist on identity security 12:30 AI vs. AI - origin of the concept 15:02 Watching two AI agents negotiate a ransomware payment 17:26 The Tamagotchi metaphor for human-AI relationships 19:07 Who is winning the AI cyber arms race 21:00 How AI accelerates attacker capabilities 23:09 Dark web LLMs and bypassing guardrails 26:36 The energy cost of being polite to AI 28:15 Agentic AI skills, campaigns, and the Matrix analogy 31:34 Estonia AI agents filing tax returns 35:14 Introducing NATO Lock Shields 37:00 Protecting a simulated nation from 8,500 cyber attacks 38:08 Why identity is national critical infrastructure 41:18 AI in Lock Shields before and after 43:05 Lock Shields 2025 scoring explained 47:04 The EU AI Act - is it the next GDPR 50:18 Risk-based approach to AI regulation 53:35 Closing thoughts and cautious optimism 54:21 Scuba diving vs. snowboarding 58:05 Wrap-up KEYWORDS AI vs AI, agentic AI, identity security, NATO Lock Shields, EU AI Act, Joseph Carson, Security by Default, ransomware, dark web LLMs, guardrails, data exfiltration, phishing, critical infrastructure, Estonia, cyber defense, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald

This episode features Drew Russell, Identity Resilience Platform Owner at Rubrik. Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman explore the intersection of backup, recovery, and identity security. Drew explains how Rubrik evolved from data backup into a cyber resilience platform with identity as a core pillar. Topics include recovering Active Directory, Okta, and Entra ID after ransomware, Rubrik's "bunker in a box" appliance for immutable air-gapped recovery, proactive posture management, CrowdStrike and Defender integrations, and where AI and non-human identities fit into Rubrik's roadmap. The episode wraps with measuring success for a product you hope to never use, and a detour into watch collecting. This episode was made possible by the support of Rubrik. Learn more at rubrik.com/idac Connect with Drew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-russell-3762411b/ Learn more about Rubrik: https://www.rubrik.com/idac Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at idacpodcast.com TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 - Welcome and Introduction 00:01:19 - Introducing Drew Russell 00:01:36 - How Drew Got Into Identity 00:02:43 - What Is Rubrik and What Sets It Apart 00:03:38 - From Backup to Cyber Resilience 00:05:31 - Where Rubrik Fits in the IAM Landscape 00:07:08 - Rubrik's Scale: Clients and Growth 00:07:51 - Primary Use Cases: Post-Incident Recovery and AD 00:09:09 - Kicking Out Compromised Accounts and ADR 00:10:11 - Proactive Threat Detection and Mandiant Integration 00:11:28 - Scanning Backups to Find the Clean Recovery Point 00:12:14 - The Bunker in a Box Explained 00:13:18 - Posture Management and Upstream Tool Integration 00:14:19 - AI Agent Swarms and the Future Attack Surface 00:15:37 - The Taiwan Bank Case Study: Six Weeks to Rebuild AD 00:17:16 - The State of Nevada Incident: $400K and 30 Days 00:17:56 - What Recovery Covers: AD, Okta, and Entra ID 00:19:26 - Post-Restore Change Management and Whitelisting 00:20:08 - How Long Should You Store Backups? 00:21:19 - Indexing Identity for Intelligent Recovery Points 00:22:29 - Excluding Malicious Actions During Restore 00:24:41 - Zero Trust for Rubrik's Own Backups 00:26:21 - No Windows, No Virtualization Architecture 00:27:49 - Proactive Posture Management 00:29:00 - CrowdStrike and Defender Real-Time Integration 00:30:48 - Why Tabletop Exercises Often Fall Short 00:31:53 - AI Roadmap and Non-Human Identities 00:34:22 - The Three Pillars: Data, Identity, and AI 00:35:29 - Deployment: SaaS vs. On-Prem 00:38:37 - Appliance Sizing and Redundancy 00:42:23 - Measuring Success for a Product You Hope to Never Use 00:43:46 - The Ludacris Rubrik Commercial 00:45:31 - Watch Collecting and the Omega Speedmaster 00:53:39 - Drew's Closing Words KEYWORDS Identity at the Center, IDAC, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Rubrik, Drew Russell, identity resilience, cyber resilience, Active Directory recovery, AD backup, Okta recovery, Entra ID recovery, identity backup, ITDR, ISPM, non-human identity, NHI, agentic AI, ransomware recovery, bunker in a box, immutable backup, CrowdStrike integration, Microsoft Defender integration, Mandiant integration, identity disaster recovery, ADR, zero trust, tabletop exercises, posture management, IAM, identity security podcast, cybersecurity podcast

In this MailBag episode, Jeff Steadman and Jim McDonald tackle eight questions submitted by listeners from around the world, including Munich, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Toronto, Hanoi, London, Sydney, and Chicago. The conversation covers governing AI and non-human identities, practical first steps toward passwordless adoption, what a mature IAM program actually looks like, who should own identity within an organization, building credibility with leadership as a new IAM practitioner, enforcing least privilege in practice, rethinking access reviews beyond checkbox compliance, and how to make the business case for identity security investment before a breach occurs. The episode wraps up with some lighter listener questions about sports analogies for IAM roles and whether anyone in their personal lives actually understands what they do for a living. Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Introduction and RSA Conference debate 03:41 - Conference plans for 2026: EIC, Identiverse, and Authenticate 05:17 - MailBag intro and how questions get selected 06:51 - Q1 (Hans, Munich): Governing AI access vs. human access — same principles or a different approach? 12:32 - Q2 (Gabriela, Sao Paulo): Realistic first steps toward passwordless without disrupting everything 18:34 - Q3 (Wei, Singapore): What does a mature identity program actually look like? 30:26 - Q4 (Marcus, Toronto): When IT and security both claim to own identity, how do you sort it out? 39:33 - Q5 (Linh, Hanoi): Building credibility and influence as someone new to the IAM space 42:53 - Q6 (Claire, London): Enforcing least privilege in practice without slowing down the business 46:14 - Q7 (James, Sydney): Are access reviews just a checkbox exercise, and is there a better way? 49:18 - Q8 (Darnell, Chicago): Making the case to a CFO or CEO for identity security investment before a breach 52:38 - Lighter note: If IAM was a sport, what position would you play? 1:00:27 - Lighter note: Does your family actually understand what you do? 1:03:06 - Wrap-up and how to submit future questions KEYWORDS IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, IAM, identity and access management, MailBag, non-human identity, AI governance, agentic AI, passwordless, passkeys, IAM program maturity, identity ownership, RACI, least privilege, zero standing privilege, access reviews, security theater, identity security budget, business case for IAM, ISPM, IGA, IDPro, Identiverse, EIC, Authenticate conference, RSA conference, cybersecurity podcast, identity security, identity community

Jeff and Jim sit down with David Llorens, principal at RSM, to break down the RSM 2026 Attack Vectors Report. Drawing from real-world offensive security engagements, David explains why identity continues to be the primary attack surface, how AI chatbots are creating new vulnerabilities through prompt injection, and what separates organizations that get breached from those that don't. The conversation covers MFA gaps, the explosion of non-human identities, why PAM is the top investment priority for 2026, and how CISOs can align security spending with business objectives. Plus, the episode wraps up with soccer stories and some quality trash talk. Connect with David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-llorens-009a3310/ Review RSM’s 2026 Attack Vectors Report: https://rsmus.com/insights/services/risk-fraud-cybersecurity/rsm-attack-vector-report.html Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com TIMESTAMPS0:00 - Intro and Jim's big personal news4:51 - Main topic intro: RSM 2026 Attack Vectors Report5:55 - David's origin story and how he got into cybersecurity9:53 - What a principal is at RSM and David's current role11:16 - What the Attack Vectors Report is and how it is created14:40 - Why identity security is a dominant theme in this year's report17:19 - What separates organizations that get breached from those that don't18:18 - MFA as the first line of defense18:45 - Privileged access management as a growing priority19:40 - Detecting lateral movement through identity anomalies21:00 - Credential rotation as an advanced defensive technique22:26 - Non-human identities and service account risks24:37 - Middle market challenges and budget constraints25:17 - Is it the size of the budget or how you spend it?28:29 - Using internal audit and cross-department collaboration for security wins30:15 - Cybersecurity as a business enabler, not a deterrent32:45 - Non-human identities and agentic AI creating new attack surfaces35:51 - Prompt injection attacks and AI chatbot vulnerabilities39:42 - Actionable recommendations for practitioners42:41 - MFA implementation gaps and session hijacking45:02 - The case for FIDO2 and layered conditional access46:35 - Is identity security a board-level issue?49:47 - Three things CISOs should focus on through 202650:52 - PAM as the top investment priority51:28 - Removing unnecessary privileges from users56:11 - Redefining what privilege means in your organization57:43 - Social media accounts as privileged access58:42 - Credentials stored in SharePoint and OneDrive59:38 - Wrap up and where to find the report59:58 - Lighter topic: David's soccer background and playing semi-pro1:05:06 - Best trash talk stories1:07:03 - Jim's trash talk philosophy: scoreboard1:08:00 - Jeff's basketball trash talk and calling his shots1:10:00 - Final thoughts and sign off KEYWORDSIDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, David Llorens, RSM, attack vectors report, offensive security, penetration testing, identity security, MFA, multifactor authentication, privileged access management, PAM, non-human identities, service accounts, agentic AI, AI security, prompt injection, lateral movement, credential rotation, FIDO2, conditional access, session hijacking, middle market, CISO, board-level security, certificate-based authentication, active directory, configuration management, shadow AI

This episode is sponsored by Bravura Security. Learn more at bravurasecurity.com/idac. This is a Sponsor Spotlight episode of the Identity at the Center podcast. Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman are joined by Bart Allan, General Manager at Bravura Security, to discuss why enterprise password management remains a critical piece of identity security even as organizations pursue passwordless strategies. Bart shares Bravura's history dating back to 1992, starting with self-service password reset and evolving into a full identity security platform spanning identity management, privileged access management, and enterprise password management. The conversation digs into the uncomfortable truth that while organizations may get 80% of their applications onto modern authentication, the remaining 20% still rely on passwords, creating real security risk. Bart explains how treating enterprise passwords the way organizations treat privileged credentials, with automated rotation and centralized management, can remove the human element from password creation and reduce exposure to breaches and social engineering. The group also discusses help desk social engineering attacks, breach recovery challenges, deployment strategies for rolling out an enterprise password manager, and the emerging role of password managers as passkey managers for portability. The episode wraps with some outdoor adventure stories from Bart and Jim. Connect with Bart: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartholomewallan/ Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at idacpodcast.com TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Introduction and welcome01:00 - Sponsor Spotlight overview and Bravura Security introduction01:52 - Bart Allan's background in identity03:30 - History of Bravura Security from 1992 to today05:39 - How the Bravura name came to be07:00 - What makes Bravura unique in the identity market08:33 - Why password management still matters09:58 - The uncomfortable truth about passwords and the 80/20 problem13:00 - Personal vs enterprise password managers16:00 - The last mile to passwordless and legacy systems19:00 - Why storing passwords is not enough without active management22:00 - Help desk social engineering and the human element25:00 - Breach response and the fog of war31:00 - Scattered spider scenarios and credential reset at scale35:00 - Is a password manager the only viable option for the final 20%?38:00 - The future of password managers as passkey managers40:00 - Tips for deploying an enterprise password manager42:45 - Measuring success with an enterprise password manager45:17 - Lighter side of the conversation begins46:00 - Bart's backcountry skiing avalanche story from Rogers Pass50:30 - Jim's lightning storm story from backpacking in Yosemite52:53 - Final thoughts from Bart on the passwordless journey54:00 - Wrap up and outro KEYWORDSIDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Bravura Security, Bart Allan, password management, enterprise password manager, passwordless, passkeys, privileged access management, identity security, help desk social engineering, breach recovery, credential rotation, self-service password reset, identity verification, IAM operations, shadow IT, FIDO, sponsor spotlight, password vault, legacy systems

Simon Moffatt, founder and analyst at The Cyber Hut and co-host of The Analyst Brief podcast, returns to Identity at the Center for a wide-ranging conversation about the strategic evolution of identity security. Simon shares an update on his second book, IAM at 2035, which explores where identity is heading over the next decade. The discussion covers why identity has shifted from a back office function to a strategic business enabler, driven by the convergence of cloud, zero trust, and expanding digital ecosystems.Jim and Jeff dig into how organizations can measure their identity security posture, and Simon introduces his Identity Security Scorecard, a framework of 50-plus data points covering visibility, protection, detection, and response. The conversation shifts to the identity attack lifecycle, where Simon explains why organizations need to move beyond log-based forensics and toward real-time detection and response before attacks complete.The group also explores how non-identity data signals, like CAEP and shared signals frameworks, are critical to building a fuller picture of risk. The final segment tackles agentic AI and its implications for identity, including the argument that agentic identities may represent a third identity type distinct from both human and machine. Simon makes the case that AI adoption is outpacing identity and security innovation, creating a widening gap that the industry must address through governance, accountability, and new architectural patterns. Connect with Simon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonmoffatt/ The Analyst Brief Podcast: https://www.thecyberhut.com/podcast/ Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/ Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/ Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.com Timestamps00:00 Introduction and conference discount codes02:29 Simon Moffatt returns to the show03:58 Update on the IAM at 2035 book07:25 The Analyst Brief podcast and covering identity trends08:44 Identity shifts from back office to strategic priority11:47 The compliance trap and reactionary identity management14:25 Customer identity transparency influencing workforce identity16:52 Defining identity security across 80-plus vendors20:11 Products alone do not solve identity security21:14 Thinking like an attacker about identity flows23:23 Red flags in an organization's identity posture25:43 The identity security scorecard and measuring risk29:27 Avoiding FUD when presenting identity risk to the board32:34 The identity attack lifecycle explained36:53 Building the mindset for real-time detection and response37:41 CAEP, shared signals, and non-identity data sources40:10 Identity as a 24/7 security operations function43:24 Agentic AI drops like a nuclear explosion on identity46:49 The widening gap between AI adoption and identity security47:51 Is agentic identity a third identity type?50:47 What needs to change to address the agentic identity explosion53:24 Will AI shake the core of enterprise IT?57:24 AI may be the only thing that can secure AI58:04 Travel tips for EIC Berlin and European conferences01:02:45 Wrapping up Keywordsidentity security, identity attack lifecycle, identity attack paths, agentic AI, agentic identity, non-human identity, NHI, identity security scorecard, zero trust, CAEP, shared signals framework, identity governance, identity strategy, IAM, identity posture, Simon Moffatt, The Cyber Hut, The Analyst Brief, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald