Retailers have already invested in IAM to protect customer data and simplify operations, but today’s threat landscape demands a more adaptive, behavior-aware approach.

Protecting customer data isn’t just about securing logins, it’s about securing behavior.

In a recent article, Identity and Access Management in Retail: Why It Matters More Than Ever, we explored how identity and access management (IAM) strengthens retail operations, compliance, and customer trust. This article builds on that foundation, diving deeper into why IAM must now evolve to address increasingly sophisticated threats and behavioral risks.

Historically, IAM was viewed as a backend security function: verify who the user is, grant access to the right systems, and log the interaction. But retail has changed. IAM now sits at the intersection of security, customer experience, and business growth.

It’s no longer just about authenticating users, it’s about understanding their context, behavior, and intent, while making sure that only the right people can access the right data at the right time.

Where Traditional IAM Falls Short in Today’s Retail Landscape

Retailers today are collecting far more behavioral and transactional data than ever before. From what a customer is searching for and how they interact with product pages, to whether they’ve logged in via mobile or desktop, every click helps shape a more personalized experience.

This behavior intelligence is what fuels loyalty programs, recommendation engines, and AI-driven recommendations.

But this data comes with a catch: it significantly expands the attack surface.

Cybercriminal know that customer data is valuable, especially when it’s tied to payment information, location history, or saved credentials. As organizations gather more information to improve experiences, they also become more attractive targets. And attackers are increasingly exploiting gaps in how identity is managed.

Traditional IAM systems were designed to answer one core question: Is this person who they say they are?

But in today’s world, that’s not enough.

Attackers often bypass logins altogether, using stolen credentials to slip in undetected. Once inside, they can move laterally, hijack sessions, scrape data, or exploit permissions that haven’t been re-evaluated in years.

These types of threats often evade detection by legacy IAM systems because they don’t look like attacks. They look like normal user behavior—just slightly off.

Identity-Related Threats Retailers Must Watch

Here are a few threats that traditional IAM may not catch:

2FA Circumvention: Techniques like phishing, social engineering, and brute-forcing backup codes can bypass multi-factor authentication, especially if fallback options aren’t well secured.
Session Hijacking: Through session fixation, cross-site scripting (XSS), or other attacks, threat actors can intercept or mimic legitimate sessions.
Behavioral Spoofing: Bots or low-and-slow automation tools replicate human behavior pattens to evade detection, enabling large-scale scraping and fraudulent actions.
Screenshot Harvesting: While IAM doesn’t prevent malware from capturing screenshots, it can limit the damage by ensuring that compromised accounts don’t have excessive privileges.
Authenticated Data Scraping: Attackers or competitors may scrape product and pricing data during legitimate-looking sessions, often bypassing perimeter defenses.

What Modern IAM Can (and Can’t) Do

It’s important to understand what IAM can directly control, and where it plays a supporting role in broader security.

What IAM does well today:

Authenticate users through stronger, layered mechanisms like multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Authorize access based on roles, attributes, or risk profiles
Adapt to user context with conditional access policies (e.g., deny access if login is from an unknown device or location)
Monitor behavior during sessions and flag anomalies (e.g., unusual data downloads, repeated failed login attempts)
Enforce the principle of least privilege, minimizing exposure when accounts are compromised

What IAM can’t do alone:

Block screenshot malware or detect keyloggers (that’s endpoint security’s role)
Prevent data scraping by bots during authenticated sessions (handled more by bot management/WAF tools)
Detect insider threats unless integrated with UEBA (user and entity behavior analytics)

That’s why modern IAM needs to be part of a layered security strategy—working alongside EDR tools, bot protection, fraud detection, and robust monitoring.

The Rise of Adaptive IAM

To meet today’s threats, IAM is shifting from static rules to dynamic, context-aware systems.

Known as adaptive IAM, this approach uses real-time signals to evaluate risk continuously, not just at the moment of login. It considers factors like:

Device fingerprints
IP reputation and geolocation
Login frequency and velocity
Session length and interaction style
Accessing unusual volumes of data or using new features for the first time

Based on this intelligence, IAM systems can take action: deny access, prompt for additional verification, restrict certain activities, or automatically expire sessions.

Adaptive IAM also plays a critical role in protecting customer trust by striking a balance between security and usability. For example, you don’t want to block a legitimate shopper just because they’re traveling. But if stolen credentials are being used from an unfamiliar device in a high-risk country, your IAM system should know—and act.

What Retailers Should Prioritize

Retailers and ecommerce brands evaluating their IAM strategy should consider:

Modern threat models: Are you prepared for credential stuffing, MFA bypass, or session abuse?
Customer context: Are you using behavioral signals to make smarter access decisions?
Real-time adaptation: Can your IAM respond to risk as it evolves, not just after the fact?
Governance and hygiene: Are permissions being regularly reviewed, or is access accumulating unchecked?

IAM can no longer be a one-time implementation. It needs to evolve continuously—just like your customers, and just like the attackers targeting them.

Final Thoughts

When IAM is done right, it can protect sensitive customer data, reduce fraud, and preserve trust without disrupting the experience your brand is known for.

But it requires rethinking. Retailers can’t rely on static rules, legacy platforms, or a login-only model anymore. Modern identity is dynamic, contextual, and tightly integrated with the rest of your security stack.

Whether you’re planning your next loyalty program or personalizing a customer journey, start by asking: Do we know who’s accessing what? And can we stop them if we need to?

If the answer isn’t clear, Concord can help. Our team works with leading retailers to modernize IAM strategies, integrate behavioral signals, and build adaptive identity systems that balance security with seamless experiences. Reach out to learn more.