OAM and CyberArc

Oracle Access Management (OAM): Focuses on Web Access Management and Identity Federation   

• Single Sign-On (SSO): OAM provides users with the ability to log in once and access multiple web applications without re-authenticating.  
• Access Control Policies: It allows organizations to define and enforce policies that determine who can access specific web resources based on roles, attributes, and context.  
• Identity Federation: OAM supports industry standards like SAML, OAuth, and OpenID Connect, enabling secure authentication and authorization across different security domains, including cloud applications and partner systems.  
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): OAM offers various MFA methods to enhance the security of user logins.  
• Risk and Fraud Prevention: Some OAM capabilities include adaptive risk management to detect and control high-risk user activity.  

CyberArk: Focuses on Privileged Access Management (PAM)  

• Secure Vaulting: CyberArk securely stores and manages privileged credentials (passwords, SSH keys, etc.) in a hardened digital vault, preventing unauthorized access.  
• Least Privilege Enforcement: CyberArk enables organizations to implement granular access controls, ensuring that privileged users and applications only have the necessary permissions.  
• Session Isolation and Monitoring: It isolates privileged sessions, preventing lateral movement by attackers, and monitors all privileged activities for suspicious behavior, providing audit trails and session recordings.  
• Application Credential Management: CyberArk helps eliminate hard-coded credentials in applications and scripts, reducing a significant attack vector.  
• Threat Detection and Analytics: CyberArk analyzes privileged user behavior to detect anomalies and potential insider threats or external attacks.  

How They Work Together:

The integration of OAM and CyberArk creates a more robust and layered security posture:

1. User Authentication and SSO (OAM): OAM handles the initial authentication of users accessing web applications, providing a seamless single sign-on experience.  

2. Privileged Access Control (CyberArk): When a user (or an application) needs to perform actions requiring elevated privileges within those applications or on underlying systems, CyberArk steps in to manage and secure that access.  

3. Centralized Policy Enforcement: Organizations can define policies in both OAM and CyberArk to ensure consistent access control across web applications and privileged operations. For example, an OAM policy might grant a user access to a specific application, while CyberArk policies would control what privileged actions that user can perform within that application's underlying infrastructure.

4. Enhanced Security and Compliance: By combining OAM's web access controls and federation capabilities with CyberArk's privileged access management, organizations can:

   • Reduce the risk of both external breaches targeting user accounts and insider threats or external attacks exploiting privileged accounts.
   • Meet stricter compliance requirements related to both user access and privileged access.
   • Gain better visibility and control over all levels of access within their environment.

Integration Methods:

The integration between OAM and CyberArk can be achieved through various methods, including:

• Credential Vaulting: OAM can be configured to retrieve privileged credentials managed by CyberArk instead of storing them directly. This ensures that sensitive administrative passwords are securely managed by CyberArk.
• API Integrations: Both platforms offer APIs that can be used to exchange information and coordinate access control policies.
• SSO Federation for Administrative Consoles: Users might use their OAM credentials to access the administrative consoles of CyberArk, providing a consistent login experience.
• Event Logging and Correlation: Security information from both systems can be aggregated and analyzed in a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system for a holistic view of access activities and potential threats.  

In conclusion, Oracle Access Management and CyberArk are not overlapping technologies but rather complementary solutions. OAM manages user access to web applications and facilitates identity federation, while CyberArk focuses on securing and managing privileged access. Integrating these two solutions provides a more comprehensive and robust approach to identity and access security, addressing both user and privileged access scenarios.