In January, the Cloud Security Alliance asked security professionals how they handle the identities on which their AI systems run. Fewer than a quarter of organizations had a documented, formally adopted policy for creating or removing one. More than 16% do not track when a new identity is created at all. Those identities hold tokens and standing access to production systems, and the people accountable for governing access have, by their own account, no record of them. Authentication answers only half the question This is the quiet arithmetic behind a phrase the industry has repeated for a decade: identity is…
Dirk Schrader
Dirk Schrader
Dirk Schrader is VP of Security Research at Netwrix. A 25-year veteran in IT security with certifications as CISSP (ISC2) and CISM (ISACA), he works to advance cyber resilience as a modern approach to tackling cyber threats. As the VP of Security Research, Dirk is working on focused research for specific industries like healthcare, energy, and finance.
Security teams entering 2026 face a familiar truth dressed in new clothes. The technologies change, the tools get smarter, but most compromises still trace back to two core areas of any organization: identity and data. Securing them with separate programs is an invitation to gaps and blind spots. Treating them as the two columns that support the whole security architecture makes resilience practical and achievable. This article explains why identity and data must be managed together, highlights the most common operational pitfalls, and offers a practical roadmap that teams can apply without overwhelming the business. Why Two Columns, Not Two…