Identity Management Course

Lesson 1 • Key Identity Concepts and Terminology

Introduces essential terms used throughout the course. Precise vocabulary enables accurate communication with technical and business stakeholders.

Lesson 2 • Regulatory and Compliance Context

Explains how data protection and access control regulations shape IAM requirements. Students connect compliance obligations to technical design choices.

Lesson 3 • Identity Threats and Risk Overview

Surveys common identity-based attack vectors and their organisational impact. Motivates the need for structured identity controls.

Lesson 4 • What Is Identity Management

Defines identity management and its role in securing digital environments. Connects foundational concepts to real-world access control needs.

Lesson 1 • Active Directory and Cloud Directories

Compares on-premises Active Directory with cloud-native directory services. Students map feature differences to deployment scenarios.

Lesson 2 • Identity Store Security Hardening

Applies security controls to protect directory infrastructure from attack. Directly supports the threat awareness introduced in Chapter 1.

Lesson 3 • Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

Covers LDAP as the standard protocol for querying and modifying directory data. Students perform searches, binds, and modifications against a live directory.

Lesson 4 • Directory Service Fundamentals

Explains the purpose and structure of directory services as central identity stores. Establishes the technical baseline for all subsequent identity operations.

Lesson 1 • Passwordless Authentication

Covers FIDO2, passkeys, and certificate-based approaches that eliminate shared secrets. Students assess adoption barriers and migration paths.

Lesson 2 • Adaptive and Risk-Based Authentication

Applies contextual signals to dynamically adjust authentication strength. Builds on MFA concepts to create intelligent, user-sensitive policies.

Lesson 3 • Password-Based Authentication

Examines password mechanics, storage, and common weaknesses. Provides the baseline against which stronger methods are compared.

Lesson 4 • Federated Authentication Protocols

Explains SAML, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect as cross-domain authentication standards. Students trace token flows and configure trust relationships.

Lesson 1 • Least Privilege and Separation of Duties

Applies the principle of least privilege and SoD controls to reduce insider risk. Connects directly to threat scenarios introduced in Chapter 1.

Lesson 2 • Role Engineering and Design

Guides the process of defining, structuring, and maintaining roles within RBAC systems. Students apply role mining techniques to real organisational data.

Lesson 3 • Policy-Based Authorisation

Introduces policy languages and engines that evaluate fine-grained access decisions. Extends RBAC concepts toward dynamic, context-aware authorisation.

Lesson 4 • Core Access Control Models

Surveys DAC, MAC, RBAC, and ABAC models and their trade-offs. Provides the theoretical framework for all authorisation design decisions.

Lesson 1 • Identity Provider Configuration

Guides setup of an identity provider for SAML and OIDC-based SSO. Students configure metadata, certificates, and attribute mappings.

Lesson 2 • Cross-Domain Federation and Trust

Establishes federated trust between organisations using identity federation standards. Enables secure B2B and partner access scenarios.

Lesson 3 • SSO Architecture and Benefits

Explains how SSO centralises authentication and reduces credential fatigue. Connects protocol knowledge from Chapter 3 to enterprise deployment patterns.

Lesson 4 • Service Provider Integration

Connects applications to an identity provider as SAML or OIDC service providers. Students troubleshoot common integration failures using protocol traces.

Lesson 1 • SCIM Protocol for Identity Provisioning

Covers the System for Cross-domain Identity Management standard for automated provisioning. Students configure SCIM endpoints between identity providers and applications.

Lesson 2 • Joiner, Mover, and Leaver Processes

Defines the three core lifecycle events and their IAM implications. Establishes the process framework that subsequent sections operationalise.

Lesson 3 • Automated Provisioning and Deprovisioning

Implements automated account creation and removal using identity governance tools. Reduces manual error and accelerates access delivery.

Lesson 4 • Identity Data Quality and Governance

Addresses data accuracy, completeness, and consistency across identity stores. Ensures lifecycle processes produce reliable, trustworthy identity records.

Lesson 1 • Privileged Account Classification

Identifies and categorises privileged account types across systems and environments. Builds the inventory foundation required for all PAM controls.

Lesson 2 • Just-in-Time Privileged Access

Grants elevated permissions only when needed and revokes them automatically. Applies least-privilege principles from Chapter 4 to privileged scenarios.

Lesson 3 • PAM for Cloud and DevOps Environments

Extends PAM controls to cloud consoles, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code. Addresses the unique privileged access challenges of modern delivery platforms.

Lesson 4 • Privileged Session Management

Records, monitors, and controls privileged sessions in real time. Provides forensic evidence and enables live intervention during suspicious activity.

Lesson 1 • Audit, Reporting, and Compliance Evidence

Generates audit-ready reports and evidence packages from IGA platform data. Enables organisations to demonstrate compliance to internal and external auditors.

Lesson 2 • Segregation of Duties Enforcement

Operationalises SoD policies introduced in Chapter 4 within an IGA platform. Students detect, report, and remediate SoD violations at scale.

Lesson 3 • Identity Governance Frameworks

Introduces IGA as the discipline that connects IAM operations to compliance and risk management. Positions governance as the strategic layer above lifecycle and access control.

Lesson 4 • Access Certification and Reviews

Designs and executes periodic access certification campaigns to validate entitlements. Directly addresses compliance requirements introduced in Chapter 1.