Digital identity is the new perimeter: it is already a structural asset of the company, because without access control the organization loses visibility over its own operations. Redtrust, a company specialized in enterprise digital identity that allows organizations to protect and control their digital ecosystem in complex and large-scale environments, warns that many organizations continue to manage digital certificates by storing them on individual devices, in a dispersed manner and without applying custody policies consistent with the organizations’ security standards.
Digital identity has become one of the pillars on which company activity is based. Supervision of who accesses the systems, with what access controls and from what context is today an essential requirement to operate safely and guarantee the continuity of corporate processes.
Redtrust, a company specialized in corporate digital identity, warns that many organizations continue to manage digital certificates in a dispersed manner, stored on personal devices or without clear custody policies. This lack of control exposes companies to operational, regulatory and security risks.
According to data from the Keyfactor group, to which Redtrust belongs, one in five digital certificates (18%), due to manual management, denote a lack of access control in corporate environments. This data not only reflects a technical problem, but also a weakness in the control of the life cycle of digital certificates, which support the signing, encryption and access control of digital identity within organizations.
In environments where digital identity allows you to carry out transactions, sign contracts or interact with administrations and third parties, any failure in management can have direct consequences on operational continuity.
Daniel Rodríguez, CEO of Redtrust, explains that many companies continue to operate with legacy certificate management models that no longer respond to current control needs. “Digital certificates are today the basis on which corporate digital identity is built. However, we still find certificates stored on individual computers, duplicates or disconnected from update and access control processes.”
The manager adds that the lack of visibility over the use of digital certificates prevents anticipating incidents that may directly affect the operations of organizations. “If a company does not know who uses a digital certificate, from what device and for what process, it loses the ability to respond to any failure or misuse of its digital identity.”
In this context, Redtrust has identified ten risks associated with the absence of a comprehensive digital identity control strategy in organizations:
1. Uncontrolled expirations
Uncontrolled expirations (without expiration alert of the digital and Use Certificate) can paralyze critical authentication or digital signature processes and compromise the operational continuity of a company.
2. Unexpected blocking of transactions and access
When a certificate expires, operations may be interrupted, internal applications may be blocked, or essential services may be stopped.
3. Lack of traceability
The absence of logs makes it difficult to know who used a digital certificate, when, and for what purpose, limiting auditing capabilities.
4. Local certificate storage
Storing them on individual devices increases the risk of loss, theft or misuse that can block access to critical systems.
5. Increasing risk of digital identity theft
The absence of clear custody and control policies makes it easy for a company’s digital certificates to be used inappropriately.
6. Regulatory non-compliance
The lack of access control and governance can generate non-compliance within regulatory frameworks such as the ENS or the GDPR.
7. Impact on corporate reputation
The improper use or expiration of digital certificates weakens the perception of security among clients, partners and organizations with which the company interacts.
8. Greater exposure to security breaches
When there is no control over digital identity or tools to detect anomalous uses, the risk of leakage of sensitive information increases.
9. Operational overload for IT teams
The lack of centralized control forces manual management of certificate inventories and encourages the appearance of duplications.
10. Slow response to incidents
The absence of automated processes to revoke access controls or act on incidents increases the operational and economic impact of security failures.
There are still certificates stored on individual computers, duplicates or disconnected from update and access control processes
For Redtrust, the real challenge is not only technological, but also corporate governance. “Organizations need to control the entire security perimeter of the digital certificate to operate safely in increasingly complex environments,” concludes Daniel Rodríguez.
