With more organizations relying on the cloud and more identity-based attacks being seen, identity and access management is essential to stop cyber threats.

As more businesses use cloud services, securing their data and users is becoming much more difficult, so IAM is now very important. According to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, 80% of cyberattacks focus on using people’s identity details which has led to a 34% rise in breaches caused by credential abuse and risks from third parties.

It is estimated that the global cloud IAM market will grow 17.38% each year, hitting $29.5 billion in 2033. A big problem is “Shadow Access,” where machines use automated processes and have misconfigurations which can lead to organizations unknowingly facing security risks. Attacks from cybercriminals outside organizations have increased more than two times and one out of three cyberattacks involved supply chain partners.

To deal with these risks, many experts in cybersecurity suggest using multiple IAM layers by following the Zero Trust approach. Applying PoLP, MFA and identity lifecycle automation tools helps shrink the area where attacks may happen and prevents anyone from accessing information without permission. AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure are moving toward temporary credentials, no-password login and using AI for detecting suspicious activities to better defend their IAM.

Moving on, using threat hunting driven by AI, having decentralized identity systems and employing quantum-resistant encryption will have an impact on the future of IAM. They offer better security and more adaptability as companies interact with different cloud services.

In other words, identity and access management is shifting from simply being an IT duty to having a bigger role. Businesses should apply IAM innovations to keep digital and physical identities secure, manage companies they work with and avoid advanced cyber dangers.