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Global Accelerated Learning • Est. 1999
Glossary Term Identity Sprawl

Training Camp • Cybersecurity Glossary

What is Identity Sprawl?

Identity sprawl is the unmanaged growth of user and machine accounts across cloud and SaaS systems, expanding attack surface and weakening identity governance.

Glossary > Identity & Access Management > Identity Sprawl

Understanding Identity Sprawl

Identity sprawl is the uncontrolled proliferation of user and machine identities, accounts, and credentials across an organization's on-premises, cloud, and SaaS environments. It commonly arises when each application or platform maintains its own siloed identity store, leaving users with many disconnected accounts that are hard to govern, deprovision, or audit. The resulting orphaned accounts, excessive privileges, and inconsistent policies expand the attack surface and complicate identity governance and zero trust efforts.

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