Performing Access Recertification With Saviynt

Performing Access Recertification with Saviynt

Overview

Access recertification (also called access certification or access review) is a periodic process where designated reviewers validate that users have appropriate access to systems and data. Saviynt Enterprise Identity Cloud (EIC) automates this process through certification campaigns that present reviewers with current access assignments and collect approve/revoke/conditionally-certify decisions. Campaigns can be triggered on schedule (quarterly, semi-annually), event-driven (department transfer, role change), or on-demand. Saviynt provides intelligence features including risk scoring, usage analytics, and peer-group analysis to help reviewers make informed decisions.

When to Use

Trigger phrases:

• "performing access recertification with saviynt"

• "When conducting security assessments that involve performing access recertificat"

• "When following incident response procedures for related security events"

• "When performing scheduled security testing or auditing activities"

• When conducting security assessments that involve performing access recertification with saviynt

• When following incident response procedures for related security events

• When performing scheduled security testing or auditing activities

• When validating security controls through hands-on testing

Prerequisites

• Saviynt Enterprise Identity Cloud (EIC) tenant with admin access
• Identity data synchronized from authoritative sources (HR, AD, cloud)
• Entitlement data imported from target applications
• Certifier roles assigned (managers, application owners, data owners)
• Campaign templates defined for each certification type

Core Concepts

This section covers core concepts for performing access recertification with saviynt.

• Ensure all prerequisites are met before proceeding
• Follow the documented workflow steps in sequence
• Record results and any anomalies encountered during this phase

Campaign Types

Certification Decisions

Campaign Lifecycle

CONFIGURATION → PREVIEW → ACTIVE → IN PROGRESS → COMPLETED → REMEDIATION
       │            │         │          │             │            │
       │            │         │          │             │            └── Revoke tickets
       │            │         │          │             │                executed
       │            │         │          │             │
       │            │         │          │             └── All decisions
       │            │         │          │                 collected
       │            │         │          │
       │            │         │          └── Certifiers reviewing
       │            │         │              and making decisions
       │            │         │
       │            │         └── Campaign launched,
       │            │             notifications sent
       │            │
       │            └── Read-only preview for validation
       │
       └── Campaign parameters defined

Workflow

1. Inventory cloud assets — enumerate services, roles, and configurations in scope
2. Assess configurations — check against security best practices and CIS benchmarks
3. Test access controls — verify IAM policies, network ACLs, and security group rules
4. Validate logging — ensure audit trails are enabled and properly retained
5. Document and remediate — report findings with specific configuration changes needed

Step 1: Configure Campaign Template

In Saviynt Admin Console:

1. Navigate to Certifications > Campaign > Create New Campaign
2. Define campaign parameters:

3. Configure scope filters:

   • Include: All active users
   • Exclude: Service accounts, break-glass accounts
   • Application filter: All connected applications

4. Configure intelligence features:

   • Enable risk scoring (high-risk entitlements highlighted)
   • Enable usage data (last access date shown)
   • Enable peer analysis (compare access to peer group)
   • Enable SoD violation flagging

Step 2: Configure Certifier Experience

Customize what certifiers see during the review:

Columns Displayed:

• User name and title
• Application name
• Entitlement/role name
• Risk score (1-10)
• Last access date
• Peer group comparison (% of peers with same access)
• SoD violation flag

Decision Options:

• Certify with justification (free text)
• Revoke with reason (dropdown: no longer needed, SoD conflict, role change)
• Conditionally certify with expiry date

Bulk Actions:

• Certify all low-risk items
• Revoke all items not accessed in 90+ days
• Filter by application, risk level, or SoD status

Step 3: Launch Campaign via API

import requests

SAVIYNT_URL = "https://tenant.saviyntcloud.com"
SAVIYNT_TOKEN = "your-api-token"

def create_certification_campaign(campaign_config):
    """Create and launch a Saviynt certification campaign."""
    headers = {
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {SAVIYNT_TOKEN}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }

    # Create campaign
    response = requests.post(
        f"{SAVIYNT_URL}/ECM/api/v5/createCampaign",
        headers=headers,
        json={
            "campaignname": campaign_config["name"],
            "campaigntype": campaign_config["type"],
            "description": campaign_config["description"],
            "certifier": campaign_config["certifier_type"],
            "duedate": campaign_config["due_date"],
            "reminderdays": campaign_config["reminder_days"],
            "autorevoke": campaign_config.get("auto_revoke", True),
            "autorevokedays": campaign_config.get("auto_revoke_days", 15),
            "scope": campaign_config.get("scope", {}),
        }
    )
    response.raise_for_status()
    campaign_id = response.json().get("campaignId")

    # Launch campaign
    launch_response = requests.post(
        f"{SAVIYNT_URL}/ECM/api/v5/launchCampaign",
        headers=headers,
        json={"campaignId": campaign_id}
    )
    launch_response.raise_for_status()

    return {
        "campaign_id": campaign_id,
        "status": "launched",
        "certifications_created": launch_response.json().get("certificationCount", 0)
    }

def get_campaign_status(campaign_id):
    """Get current status and progress of a campaign."""
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {SAVIYNT_TOKEN}"}
    response = requests.get(
        f"{SAVIYNT_URL}/ECM/api/v5/getCampaignDetails",
        headers=headers,
        params={"campaignId": campaign_id}
    )
    response.raise_for_status()
    data = response.json()

    return {
        "campaign_id": campaign_id,
        "status": data.get("status"),
        "total_items": data.get("totalLineItems", 0),
        "certified": data.get("certifiedCount", 0),
        "revoked": data.get("revokedCount", 0),
        "pending": data.get("pendingCount", 0),
        "completion_rate": data.get("completionPercentage", 0),
    }

Step 4: Monitor Campaign Progress

Track certification progress and send escalations:

• Dashboard: Saviynt provides real-time campaign dashboard with completion rates
• Reminders: Automatic email reminders at configured intervals
• Escalation: If certifier does not respond by due date, escalate to manager's manager or auto-revoke
• Delegation: Allow certifiers to delegate specific items to application owners

Step 5: Execute Remediation

After campaign closes:

1. Auto-Remediation: Saviynt automatically creates provisioning tasks to revoke denied access
2. Ticket Integration: Revocation tasks create tickets in ServiceNow/Jira for tracking
3. Grace Period: Configure a grace period (e.g., 5 business days) before access is actually removed
4. Verification: After revocation, verify access is removed from target systems
5. Audit Trail: All decisions, revocations, and remediations logged for compliance evidence

Validation Checklist

• Campaign templates configured for each certification type
• Certifier roles assigned (managers, app owners, data owners)
• Risk scoring and usage analytics enabled
• SoD violation detection configured
• Reminder and escalation schedules defined
• Auto-revoke policy for non-responsive certifiers configured
• Campaign launched and certifiers notified
• Campaign completion rate > 95% before close
• Revocation tasks created for all denied entitlements
• Remediation completed within SLA
• Campaign report generated for compliance audit
• Evidence archived for regulatory retention period

When NOT to Use

• You don't have explicit written authorization to test
• Task is about defense/detection, not offense (use detection skills)
• You need to implement security controls (use implementing-* skills)
• Task requires compliance auditing (use auditing-* skills)
• You're investigating an incident (use incident response skills)
• Target is out of scope for your engagement
• Task is about vulnerability scanning only (use scanning tools)

Red Flags

• Performing actions without explicit written authorization from the asset owner
• Testing against production systems without a defined scope and rules of engagement
• Modifying cloud IAM policies or security groups without approval
• Exposing cloud credentials or secrets in logs or reports
• Running scans that generate excessive API calls and trigger billing alerts

Verification

• All steps executed successfully against a test environment before production use
• Output documented with screenshots or logs demonstrating expected behavior
• Cloud resource changes reverted or documented as intentional
• IAM policies reviewed for least-privilege compliance after testing
• No residual test resources left running (cost and security check)

References

• Saviynt Campaigns and Certifications Documentation
• Saviynt Simplifying Certifications with Intelligence
• Saviynt Advanced Access Reviews
• ISACA Access Recertification Best Practices

Process

1. Analyze the task requirements
2. Apply domain expertise
3. Verify output quality

Anti-Rationalization Table