For a lot of organizations, id safety seems to be underneath management. On paper, all the pieces checks out. However new analysis from Cerby, based mostly on insights from over 500 IT and safety leaders, reveals a unique actuality: an excessive amount of nonetheless will depend on individuals—not techniques—to operate. The truth is, fewer than 4% of safety groups have absolutely automated their core id workflows.
Core workflows, like enrolling in Multi Issue Authentication (MFA), preserving credentials safe and updated, and revoking entry the second somebody leaves—are sometimes handbook, inconsistent, and weak to error. And when safety execution depends on reminiscence or follow-up, gaps seem quick.
Human error stays one of many greatest threats to enterprise safety. Verizon’s 2025 Information Breach report discovered that the human ingredient was concerned in 60% of breaches. The identical handbook missteps that led to breaches a decade in the past nonetheless expose id techniques immediately. Cerby’s 2025 Identification Automation Hole analysis report exhibits simply how widespread the difficulty is—and the way far automation nonetheless has to go.
The final mile nonetheless runs on human error
The information reveals a persistent reliance on human motion for duties that ought to be automated throughout the id safety lifecycle.
- 41% of finish customers nonetheless share or replace passwords manually, utilizing insecure strategies like spreadsheets, emails, or chat instruments. They’re hardly ever up to date or monitored, growing the chance of credential misuse or compromise.
- Practically 89% of organizations depend on customers to manually allow MFA in purposes, regardless of MFA being some of the efficient safety controls. With out enforcement, safety turns into non-obligatory, and attackers know the right way to exploit that inconsistency.
- 59% of IT groups deal with consumer provisioning and deprovisioning manually, counting on ticketing techniques or casual follow-ups to grant and take away entry. These workflows are gradual, inconsistent, and simple to miss—leaving organizations uncovered to unauthorized entry and compliance failures.
Organizations cannot afford to attend
The results are now not hypothetical.
In line with the Ponemon Institute, 52% of enterprises have skilled a safety breach attributable to handbook id work in disconnected purposes. Most of them had 4 or extra. The downstream affect was tangible: 43% reported buyer loss, and 36% misplaced companions.
These failures are predictable and preventable, however provided that organizations cease counting on people to hold out what ought to be automated. Identification is now not a background system. It is one of many main management planes in enterprise safety. As assault surfaces increase and menace actors change into extra refined, the automation hole turns into more durable—and riskier—to disregard.
Why the automation hole persists
Why do these handbook gaps nonetheless exist if automation is so vital to id safety? They’ve emerged as a byproduct of speedy development, utility sprawl, and fragmented infrastructure.
- Disconnected purposes are all over the place, they usually do not assist the widespread id requirements required for integration into present suppliers. A majority of enterprise purposes fall into this class, and that quantity continues to develop. They span each enterprise operate and are filled with delicate knowledge.
- IT & safety groups assume instruments = protection. Environments immediately stretch throughout SaaS, cellular, cloud, and on-prem techniques. Shadow IT continues to develop quicker than anybody can observe, as every enterprise unit brings its personal stack. Attaining full management throughout all purposes stays extremely elusive.
- Stopgap options do not scale. Password managers, handbook scripts, and different vaulting instruments are troublesome to keep up and sometimes create fragmented infrastructure. When integrations do not exist, they’re incessantly patched collectively—however these fixes are pricey to construct and fragile to maintain. What begins as a workaround shortly turns into an ongoing operational burden.
Closing the automation hole
The excellent news: closing the automation hole would not require rebuilding or changing your id stack. It means finishing it.
Ahead-thinking organizations are bringing automation to each nook of their utility ecosystem with out ready for native integrations. Some groups are additionally exploring AI brokers to assist shut this hole. However belief continues to be evolving: 78% of safety leaders say they do not belief AI to completely automate core id duties—but 45% assist a collaborative human-in-the-loop mannequin.
Cerby supplies organizations with the flexibleness to assist each approaches—assembly groups the place they’re and delivering automation the place it is wanted most.
Cerby’s analysis report, The 2025 Identification Automation Hole, contains findings from 500+ IT and safety leaders and sensible steps for closing some of the ignored dangers in enterprise safety.
Obtain the complete report or schedule a 15-minute demo to see how Cerby brings automation throughout your whole id floor.
