How to Prioritize Identity Risk Without a Full IAM Overhaul

You don’t need to rip and replace IAM to reduce identity risk. This guide shows how to prioritize the riskiest identities first — using visibility, not disruption.

The IAM Myth That Slows Security Teams Down

When identity risk surfaces, the response often sounds like this:

“We need to redesign IAM first.”

That mindset delays action. It turns immediate exposure into a multi-quarter project.

In reality, most identity risk can be reduced without changing your IAM stack at all — if you focus on prioritization instead of perfection.

Why Identity Risk Feels Unmanageable

Identity risk feels overwhelming because it’s rarely ranked.

Most environments contain:

• Employees, contractors, and partners

• OAuth apps and integrations

• Service accounts and API keys

• SaaS admins outside IT visibility

• Shadow cloud accounts

According to Waldo Security’s 2025 SaaS & Cloud Discovery Report:

• 97% of SaaS apps are unknown to IT

• Less than 1% of SaaS accounts enforce MFA

• 100% of organizations have unauthorized cloud accounts

Trying to “fix identity” everywhere at once guarantees paralysis.

Prioritization is what makes progress possible.

A Practical Identity Risk Prioritization Framework

Goal: Reduce real exposure fast — without breaking workflows or rebuilding IAM.

This framework works with what you already have.

Step 1: Start With Visibility, Not Policy

Before prioritizing, you need a complete picture of:

• All SaaS apps in use

• All identities accessing them

• How authentication actually happens

Focus on what exists, not what’s documented.

This aligns with the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model, which defines visibility as the prerequisite for any trust decision:https://www.cisa.gov/zero-trust-maturity-model

Step 2: Rank Identities by Impact, Not Count

Not all identities carry equal risk.

Prioritize identities that:

• Access sensitive data (files, inboxes, customer records)

• Have admin or write permissions

• Operate without MFA

• Persist beyond normal user lifecycles

A single over-privileged OAuth token is often riskier than 100 low-impact users.

Step 3: Isolate SSO Bypasses First

Identities that bypass SSO should always be your top tier.

These include:

• Local SaaS accounts

• Personal email sign-ups

• Contractor-managed logins

• OAuth integrations

They bypass centralized enforcement, logging, and offboarding.

CISA’s Secure Cloud Business Applications (SCuBA) guidance highlights unmanaged OAuth access as a leading identity risk:https://www.cisa.gov/secure-cloud-business-applications-scuba

If SSO can’t see it, IAM can’t govern it.

Step 4: Prioritize Persistence Over Privilege

High privilege matters — but persistence matters more.

Focus first on identities that:

• Never expire

• Aren’t reviewed

• Survive offboarding

• Operate without interaction

OAuth tokens, service accounts, and shared credentials fall into this category.

They represent silent risk — no login, no alert, no review.

Step 5: Apply Compliance as a Filter, Not a Goal

Use compliance frameworks to help you prioritize — not to slow you down.

The NIST Privacy Framework and ISO/IEC 27001 emphasize:

• Accountability

• Traceability

• Revocation evidence

Ask:

• Can we prove who owns this identity?

• Can we prove access is still appropriate?

• Can we revoke it everywhere?

If the answer is “no,” that identity moves up the list.

• https://www.nist.gov/privacy-framework

• https://www.iso.org/isoiec-27001-information-security.html

Step 6: Reduce Risk in Layers, Not All at Once

You don’t need to fix everything.

You need to:

1. See all identities

2. Rank them by real exposure

3. Fix the top tier

4. Repeat continuously

This layered approach mirrors Zero Trust maturity models and scales without disruption.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Teams that follow this approach typically:

• Eliminate high-risk OAuth access first

• Bring non-SSO SaaS apps under visibility

• Enforce MFA where it matters most

• Assign ownership to every identity surface

All without replacing IAM, breaking workflows, or pausing delivery.

Why Discovery Is the Force Multiplier

IAM enforces policy. Discovery defines reality.

Without discovery:

• Risk prioritization is guesswork

• IAM improvements protect only known apps

• Identity sprawl continues unchecked

Waldo Security’s SaaS & Cloud Discovery Engine enables prioritization by:

• Discovering all SaaS and Shadow CSP accounts

• Surfacing identities that bypass SSO

• Mapping OAuth, service accounts, and delegated access

• Continuously updating identity risk posture

It doesn’t overhaul IAM — it makes IAM actionable.

Conclusion: Progress Beats Perfection

You don’t need a perfect identity architecture to reduce risk.

You need:

• Visibility

• Prioritization

• Continuous adjustment

Identity risk isn’t solved in one project. It’s managed every day — starting with the risks that matter most.

The fastest way to reduce identity risk isn’t redesigning IAM.It’s knowing where to start.

👉 See how organizations are prioritizing identity risk with real visibility in the 2025 SaaS & Cloud Discovery Report.

About Waldo Security

Waldo Security helps organizations discover, classify, and secure every SaaS and cloud service in use — known or unknown. By exposing unmanaged identities, OAuth risk, and Shadow IT, Waldo enables security teams to prioritize identity risk with clarity and confidence.