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A-002 - Identity & Access Management

Purpose​

Provide mechanisms to identify users, authenticate access and manage permissions across the Scheol environment.

This capability ensures that only authorized users can access systems and services, and that privileges are appropriately controlled.

Asset Type​

  • Business Capability

Description​

Identity & Access Management (IAM) covers how identities are defined, authenticated and authorized within the lab.

At the current stage, IAM is decentralized and implemented through:

  • local system accounts on servers
  • SSH key-based authentication
  • application-level authentication mechanisms (e.g. Gitea, Dolibarr)

A centralized identity system (AD/LDAP) is planned but not yet deployed.

Criticality​

  • Critical

IAM directly governs access to all systems and services. Weaknesses can lead to unauthorized access, privilege escalation or loss of control over infrastructure.

Sensitivity​

  • Highly Sensitive

This asset involves:

  • user credentials
  • authentication mechanisms
  • access control logic
  • identity-related data

Exposure Level​

  • Restricted

IAM components are not directly exposed as a unified system but are present across:

  • exposed services (Heaven)
  • internal systems (Hell)

Authentication interfaces may be indirectly exposed through applications.

Trust Zone​

  • Hybrid

IAM spans both:

  • Heaven (application authentication, SSH access)
  • Hell (internal systems, future directory services)

Dependencies​

  • Administrative Access mechanisms (SSH)
  • Application platforms (Gitea, Dolibarr)
  • System-level user management
  • Future identity provider (AD/LDAP)

Relationships​

  • Administrative Access (privileged access control)
  • All platform and application assets
  • Monitoring and logging systems (authentication visibility)
  • Future bastion and directory services

Security Position (Architecture Context)​

  • Core control layer for access enforcement
  • Critical dependency for all security boundaries
  • Distributed attack surface due to lack of centralization

Current structural weaknesses:

  • absence of centralized identity provider
  • inconsistent access control models across systems
  • limited visibility on authentication events

Existing Protective Measures​

  • SSH key-based authentication for system access
  • restricted use of privileged accounts
  • application-level authentication controls
  • basic access hardening practices

Limitations:

  • no centralized identity management
  • no unified access policy enforcement
  • limited correlation of authentication events

Owner / Responsibility​

  • Security Role (Sec)

Notes​

IAM is currently implemented in a decentralized and transitional state.

Planned improvements include:

  • deployment of centralized identity services (AD/LDAP)
  • improved access control consistency
  • stronger authentication monitoring and traceability

This asset is a key dependency for future security architecture maturity.