Introduction
FICAM is the Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management program. FICAM refers to the rules, procedures, and instruments an agency employs to ensure that the appropriate person has access to the appropriate resource at the appropriate time for the correct cause to accomplish federal business goals. To better manage physical access, make more informed choices, and consolidate IT services, agencies are using FICAM systems and services (Stafford, 2020). In this discussion, as a Government Agency Policy Analyst, I will discuss the ethical implications that arose while considering the Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM).
Identity Management
Federal workers, contractors, and approved mission partners are identified and managed via Identity Management, which involves collecting, verifying, and managing characteristics and entitlements to create and maintain organizational identities. This service does not cover personal or public data management. Development, Verification, Provisioning, Upkeep, Aggregation, and Deactivation are all components of Identity Management under the Federal ICAM framework (Sedlmeir et al., 2021). Identity Lifecycle Management is the collective term used for these services.
Credential Management
An organization’s process for issuing, managing, and revoking credentials associated with business identities is known as Credential Management. Credential management can authoritatively link an authenticator to an existent identity. All federal workers and contractors must have at least a second level of Authenticator Assurance Level (AAL) proficiency. Credentials, in contrast to IDs, have the potential to expire. A fresh credential is issued by the issuing agency if an enterprise’s identity persists beyond the expiry date of the previous one (Sedlmeir et al., 2021). The FICAM architecture’s Credential Management services include Sponsorship, Registration, Generation and Issuance, Maintenance, and Revocation.
Access Management
Agencies use Access Management to verify company identities and provide authorized users access to restricted resources. Laws, regulations, rules, and agency policies all work together to ensure that people may use the services that an agency offers. The agency decides what kinds of resources people may access and how complicated those criteria are.
Ethical Implications of the Policy
When it comes to cyber-security, using technologies like identity, credentials, and access management presents ethical problems regarding how much monitoring is needed. There are challenges of invasions of privacy and civil rights that could arise from the widespread use of these technologies, notwithstanding their usefulness in thwarting cyber-attacks. If one really cares about protecting people’s privacy then identity, credentials, and access management should be transparent and hold people accountable (Koops et al., 2021). Identity, credentials, and access management data obtained for other uses, including marketing or profiling, is a real possibility. Concerns around the misuse of personal information and the possible injury or exploitation of persons are brought up by this (Taddeo & Floridi, 2021).
According to Bergmann and Grohmann (2022), to avoid ethical concerns associated with balancing privacy with FICAM measures, businesses should implement a comprehensive and FICAM framework that takes into account the needs and concerns of all stakeholders. Organizations must implement stringent FICAM procedures to safeguard personal data from cyber-attacks. However, even when it comes to cyber-security, people still have a right to privacy. They need to think about the ethical problems that could arise from their FICAM measures, including violation of privacy, and figure out how to fix them.
Conclusion
The basic and the foremost right to privacy must be deliberated with the critical need to ambit sensitive information and endorse the FICAM framework in this era of digital world. In order to overcome this barrier, it is needed to have a well-thought-out strategy that takes into account the essential of a strong FICAM framework while also protecting individuals’ right to privacy in an ethical manners. Various actions are taken by different bodies to safeguard personal data from cyber risks while honouring individuals’ right to privacy.
References
Bergmann M. & Grohmann B. (2022). Cyber-security, Discrimination, and Fairness: A
Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Business Re- 116 Articles search, no. 143, pp. 197–207
Sedlmeir, J., Smethurst, R., Rieger, A., & Fridgen, G. (2021). Digital identities and verifiable
credentials. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 63(5), 603-613.
Stafford, V. A. (2020). Zero trust architecture. NIST special publication, 800, 207.
Taddeo M. & Floridi, L. (2021). The Challenges of Cyber-security and Privacy: A Review.
Science, no. 371, pp. 53–54
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