What it does. Designs and runs access review and certification campaigns-scoping, Part of mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills (817 security skills) (mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills).
Install
npx skills add mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills --skill performing-access-review-and-certification, or copy the skill folder into ~/.claude/skills/performing-access-review-and-certification/.- Raw file:
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills/HEAD/skills/performing-access-review-and-certification/SKILL.md
SKILL.md (verbatim)
name: performing-access-review-and-certification
description: Designs and runs access review and certification campaigns-scoping,
reviewer selection, risk-based prioritization, micro-certification, and remediation
tracking-to verify user access matches job roles for SOX, HIPAA, and PCI DSS compliance.
Use when planning or executing periodic access recertification or preparing evidence
for an IAM compliance audit.
domain: cybersecurity
subdomain: identity-access-management
tags:
- iam
- identity
- access-control
- access-review
- certification
- compliance
- governance
version: '1.0'
author: mahipal
license: Apache-2.0
nist_csf:
- PR.AA-01
- PR.AA-02
- PR.AA-05
- PR.AA-06
mitre_attack:
- T1078
- T1110
- T1556
- T1098
Performing Access Review and Certification
Overview
Conduct systematic access reviews and certifications to ensure users have appropriate access rights aligned with their roles. This skill covers review campaign design, reviewer selection, risk-based prioritization, micro-certification strategies, and remediation tracking for compliance with SOX, HIPAA, and PCI DSS requirements.
When to Use
- When conducting security assessments that involve performing access review and certification
- 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
- Familiarity with identity access management concepts and tools
- Access to a test or lab environment for safe execution
- Python 3.8+ with required dependencies installed
- Appropriate authorization for any testing activities
Objectives
- Design and execute access review campaigns across enterprise applications
- Implement risk-based prioritization for review scope
- Configure reviewer selection (manager, application owner, hybrid)
- Automate entitlement data collection and presentation
- Track remediation of inappropriate access findings
- Generate compliance evidence for auditors
Key Concepts
Access Review Types
- User Access Review: Manager certifies all entitlements for their direct reports
- Entitlement Review: Application owner certifies all users with specific entitlement
- Role Review: Role owner certifies role membership and permissions
- Privileged Access Review: Security team reviews high-risk/privileged access
- SOD Review: Verify no users have conflicting separation-of-duty violations
Risk-Based Prioritization
- High Risk: Privileged access, financial systems, PII/PHI systems, external-facing apps
- Medium Risk: Internal business applications, shared drives, collaboration tools
- Low Risk: Standard employee tools, read-only access, public information systems
Review Campaign Lifecycle
- Planning: Define scope, reviewers, timeline, escalation
- Data Collection: Aggregate entitlements from all identity sources
- Distribution: Assign review items to appropriate certifiers
- Certification: Reviewers approve or revoke each entitlement
- Remediation: Revoke inappropriate access, enforce timeline
- Reporting: Generate compliance evidence and metrics
- Closure: Archive campaign, feed findings into next cycle
Workflow
Step 1: Define Review Scope and Schedule
- Identify in-scope applications and systems
- Determine review frequency: quarterly (SOX), semi-annual, annual
- Define campaign timeline: review period, escalation dates, hard close
- Establish escalation chain for non-responsive reviewers
Step 2: Data Collection and Aggregation
- Extract user-entitlement mappings from each application
- Correlate with HR data (active employees, role, department, manager)
- Identify terminated/transferred users still holding access
- Flag high-risk entitlements (admin, DBA, system, privileged)
- Calculate risk scores based on entitlement sensitivity and user role
Step 3: Reviewer Assignment
- Manager Reviews: Direct manager certifies subordinate access
- Application Owner Reviews: App owner certifies all users of their application
- Hybrid Model: Manager reviews standard access, app owner reviews privileged
- Delegate Management: Allow reviewers to delegate with audit trail
Step 4: Execute Certification Campaign
- Send notifications to reviewers with clear instructions
- Present entitlements with context (last used date, risk level, role justification)
- Require reviewers to explicitly approve or revoke each item
- Track completion percentage and send reminders
- Escalate to management after deadline
- Automatically ticket revocations to IT operations
- Set SLA for revocation execution (24-48 hours for high-risk)
- Verify revocation completed (re-check entitlement)
- Exception management for business-justified deviations
- Document all exceptions with expiration dates
Step 6: Reporting and Evidence
- Generate campaign completion metrics
- Produce per-application compliance reports
- Create audit-ready evidence packages
- Track trends across review cycles
- Feed findings into risk assessment process
Security Controls
| Control |
NIST 800-53 |
Description |
| Access Review |
AC-2(3) |
Periodic review of account privileges |
| Account Management |
AC-2 |
Account lifecycle management |
| Least Privilege |
AC-6 |
Minimum necessary access enforcement |
| Separation of Duties |
AC-5 |
SOD conflict identification |
| Audit Logging |
AU-6 |
Review of access audit records |
Common Pitfalls
- Rubber-stamping: reviewers approving all access without examination
- Incomplete scope: missing critical applications from review campaigns
- No remediation tracking: revoking access on paper but not in systems
- Inconsistent reviewer assignment causing gaps in coverage
- Not including service accounts and non-human identities
Verification
Other files in this skill
assets/template.md (verbatim)
Access Review Campaign Template
| Field |
Value |
| Campaign ID |
|
| Campaign Name |
|
| Review Period |
Q_ 20__ |
| Start Date |
|
| End Date |
|
| Review Model |
[ ] Manager [ ] App Owner [ ] Hybrid |
| Auto-Revoke on Non-Response |
[ ] Yes [ ] No |
In-Scope Applications
| Application |
Risk Level |
Review Frequency |
App Owner |
Reviewer |
|
|
|
|
|
Timeline
| Milestone |
Date |
Status |
| Data extraction complete |
|
[ ] |
| Campaign launched |
|
[ ] |
| First reminder (50%) |
|
[ ] |
| Second reminder (75%) |
|
[ ] |
| Escalation to management |
|
[ ] |
| Hard close deadline |
|
[ ] |
| Remediation complete |
|
[ ] |
| Report delivered to audit |
|
[ ] |
SOD Rules Matrix
| Rule ID |
Conflict Description |
App A |
Entitlement A |
App B |
Entitlement B |
Severity |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Campaign Results Summary
| Metric |
Value |
| Total entitlements reviewed |
|
| Completion rate |
|
| Approved |
|
| Revoked |
|
| Exceptions documented |
|
| SOD violations found |
|
| Stale access identified |
|
| Orphaned accounts found |
|
references/api-reference.md (verbatim)
API Reference: Access Review and Certification
username,entitlement,application,manager,status,last_used,risk_score
jsmith,Admin,SAP,mjones,active,2025-01-15T00:00:00Z,8
[{"name": "Finance SoD", "role_a": "AP_Approver", "role_b": "AP_Creator"}]
Key Review Checks
| Check |
Description |
Severity |
| Orphaned accounts |
No manager or terminated status |
HIGH |
| SoD violations |
Conflicting entitlements held |
CRITICAL |
| Excessive access |
Entitlement count above threshold |
MEDIUM |
| Stale entitlements |
Unused beyond retention period |
MEDIUM |
Compliance Frameworks
| Framework |
Requirement |
| SOX Section 404 |
Periodic access reviews for financial systems |
| SOC 2 CC6.1 |
Logical access controls and reviews |
| HIPAA 164.312(a) |
Access authorization and review |
| PCI DSS 7.2 |
Restrict access based on need-to-know |
Review Campaign Design
| Parameter |
Best Practice |
| Frequency |
Quarterly for privileged, semi-annual for standard |
| Reviewer |
Direct manager + application owner |
| Escalation |
Auto-revoke if no response within 14 days |
| Evidence |
Export decisions with timestamps and reviewer ID |
References
references/standards.md (verbatim)
Standards and References - Access Review and Certification
NIST Standards
- NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5:
- AC-2: Account Management (periodic review requirement)
- AC-2(3): Disable accounts after inactivity period
- AC-5: Separation of Duties
- AC-6: Least Privilege
- AC-6(7): Review of User Privileges
- AU-6: Audit Record Review, Analysis, and Reporting
- NIST SP 800-171: 3.1.1 Authorized Access Control, 3.1.2 Transaction Control
Compliance Requirements
- SOX Section 404: Quarterly access reviews for financial systems
- PCI DSS 4.0: Requirement 7.2.5 - Review all access at least every six months
- HIPAA Security Rule: 45 CFR 164.312(a)(1) - Access control review
- ISO 27001: A.9.2.5 Review of user access rights
- GDPR Article 5(1)(f): Integrity and confidentiality of processing
Industry Frameworks
- CIS Controls v8: Control 6.2 - Establish an Access Revoking Process
- COBIT 2019: DSS05.04 - Manage user identity and logical access
- IGA Market: SailPoint, Saviynt, One Identity, Omada
references/workflows.md (verbatim)
Access Review and Certification Workflows
Workflow 1: Quarterly Access Review Campaign
Timeline:
- Week 1: Data collection and campaign configuration
- Week 2-4: Active review period
- Week 5: Escalation for non-responsive reviewers
- Week 6: Hard close and remediation initiation
- Week 7-8: Remediation execution and verification
- Week 8: Campaign closure and reporting
Steps:
- Extract entitlement data from all in-scope systems
- Correlate with HR data for active/inactive status
- Calculate risk scores for each user-entitlement pair
- Assign reviewers based on reviewer model
- Launch campaign with notifications
- Monitor completion daily, send reminders at 50% and 75% of timeline
- Escalate to VP level at deadline for incomplete reviews
- Force-close with auto-revoke or manager-override at hard deadline
- Process revocations through ticketing system
- Verify revocations completed in target systems
- Generate compliance report and evidence package
Workflow 2: Triggered Access Review (Role Change)
Steps:
- HR system notifies of employee role change (transfer, promotion)
- System identifies current access vs. new role entitlements
- Birthright access for new role automatically provisioned
- Legacy access flagged for new manager review
- New manager certifies which legacy access to retain/revoke
- Retained access documented with justification
- Revoked access removed within SLA
Workflow 3: Privileged Access Micro-Certification
Steps:
- Weekly extraction of privileged entitlements
- Privileged access grouped by system owner
- System owner reviews new privileged access grants since last certification
- Each privileged entitlement requires explicit approval with justification
- Non-certified privileged access auto-revoked after 48 hours
- Results forwarded to security team for trending
Workflow 4: SOD Violation Detection and Resolution
Steps:
- Define SOD rule matrix (e.g., AP create vs. AP approve)
- Scan entitlements against SOD rules
- Flag violations with risk level
- Route violations to compliance team
- Compliance team evaluates: revoke access or approve compensating control
- If compensating control: document control, set review frequency, assign monitor
- If revoke: process access removal and verify
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