Turning Technical Debt into an Identity-First Business and Security Strategy

Technical Debt: From Silent Burden to Urgent Crisis

We know from repeated research and constant media coverage of corporate data breaches that digital identities are a primary attack vector. In IAM, technical debt has evolved from a nuisance into a serious security liability. According to the 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), 22% of breaches began with stolen credentials, 16% with phishing, and a staggering 88% of web application attacks involved stolen credentials. Furthermore, 60% of breaches involved a human element, exposing persistent gaps in identity management practices. Unchecked identity sprawl only compounds this risk, making environments harder to secure, govern, and audit. As Gartner notes,1 technical debt accumulates silently over time. It often originates from ad hoc workarounds, legacy integrations, and rushed IAM deployments that overlook foundational identity data quality. With limited budgets and constrained skill sets, teams frequently prioritize new feature delivery over addressing architectural shortcomings. As can be imagined, the above leads to a predictable result. Vulnerabilities grow, user experiences degrade, compliance efforts falter, and breaches become more likely as the attack surface expands. Left unaddressed, technical debt transforms from a silent burden into an urgent crisis.