Over the past few years, Identity and Access Management (IAM) has quietly evolved from a backend IT function to the centerpiece of enterprise security. 
In a world where everything users, devices, and applications-connects through identity, IAM has become the control plane that keeps digital trust intact. 
From Access Control to Identity Intelligence 
Traditional IAM focused on one core function: granting the right people the right access at the right time.But modern enterprises have moved far beyond that. 
With the rise of:

<ul>
<li>Cloud and SaaS adoption</li>
<li>Decentralized workforces</li>
<li>AI-driven automation</li>
<li>Zero Trust architectures</li>
</ul>

The identity perimeter has expanded in every direction. 
Identity is no longer just a "security layer" it's the foundation for everything from compliance to productivity to digital experience. 
The Modern IAM Stack 
Today's IAM ecosystem is broader and more intelligent than ever. It often includes:

<ul>
<li>Identity Providers (IdPs) like Okta, Azure AD, or Ping</li>
<li>Privileged Access Management (PAM) for high-risk accounts</li>
<li>Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) for compliance</li>
<li>Access Management (AM) for authentication and SSO</li>
<li>Entitlement Management for fine-grained control</li>
<li>Shadow IT and App Discovery tools for visibility</li>
<li>AI/ML-based analytics for continuous access evaluation</li>
</ul>

Each layer contributes to what's becoming the Identity Control Plane a real-time map of who can do what, and why.

The Rise of Identity as a Business Enabler

IAM is no longer just about reducing risk it's about enabling business agility. 
When designed right, IAM accelerates innovation instead of slowing it down. 
For example:

<ul>
<li>New employees can access all their tools on day one.</li>
<li>Mergers and acquisitions can integrate faster.</li>
<li>Compliance teams can automate audits.</li>
<li>Developers can deploy secure apps without bottlenecks.</li>
</ul>

The real transformation happens when IAM becomes invisible working silently in the background to balance security with user experience.

Challenges That Still Persist 
Despite the evolution, most organizations still face:

<ul>
<li>Identity silos across multiple clouds and apps</li>
<li>Manual access reviews and certifications</li>
<li>Limited visibility into third-party or SaaS accounts</li>
<li>Growing pressure from compliance frameworks (SOC2, ISO, GDPR)</li>
</ul>

As the attack surface expands, the need for identity-first security strategies grows stronger than ever.

The Future: Adaptive and Autonomous Identity

The next era of IAM is about autonomous governance systems that learn, predict, and enforce policies dynamically. 
Imagine an IAM system that:

<ul>
<li>Suggests least-privilege policies using ML</li>
<li>Detects unusual access patterns and auto-remediates them</li>
<li>Continuously verifies trust instead of relying on static rules</li>
<li>Integrates seamlessly with every app, cloud, and device</li>
</ul>

That's where IAM is heading from static policy engines to intelligent, adaptive ecosystems.

Final Thoughts

Identity is no longer just a security control it's the digital DNA of every organization. 
As enterprises continue their cloud transformation journeys, the success of every security strategy will depend on how well they understand, govern, and automate identity. 
And in that future, IAM isn't just part of cybersecurity it is cybersecurity.

تحولت إدارة الهوية والوصول (IAM) من وظيفة تكنولوجيا المعلومات الخلفية إلى عنصر مركزي في أمان المؤسسات، مدفوعة بعوامل مثل اعتماد السحابة وقوى العمل اللامركزية. هذا التحول مهم حيث أصبحت IAM الآن أساسًا للامتثال والإنتاجية والتجارب الرقمية، مما يجعلها ضرورية للحفاظ على الثقة الرقمية في المؤسسات الحديثة.

La gestión de identidades y accesos (IAM) ha pasado de ser una función de TI de backend a convertirse en un elemento central de la seguridad empresarial, impulsada por factores como la adopción de la nube y la descentralización de la fuerza laboral. Este cambio es crucial, ya que IAM ahora fundamenta el cumplimiento, la productividad y las experiencias digitales, siendo esencial para mantener la confianza digital en las organizaciones modernas.

La gestion des identités et des accès (IAM) a évolué d'une fonction informatique de backend à un élément central de la sécurité des entreprises, influencée par des facteurs tels que l'adoption du cloud et les effectifs décentralisés. Ce changement est crucial car l'IAM soutient désormais la conformité, la productivité et les expériences numériques, ce qui est essentiel pour maintenir la confiance numérique dans les organisations modernes.

Identity and Access Management (IAM) has transformed from a backend IT function to a central element of enterprise security, driven by factors like cloud adoption and decentralized workforces. This shift is crucial as IAM now underpins compliance, productivity, and digital experiences, making it essential for maintaining digital trust in modern organizations.

The Identity Shift: Why IAM is Becoming the Heart of Enterprise Security

Although Black Friday is still two weeks away, you can find great Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 deals now. I've collected the best from Walmart, Best Buy, and more.

مع اقتراب يوم الجمعة السوداء بعد أسبوعين، تتوفر بالفعل عروض مبكرة على أجهزة نينتندو سويتش وسويتش 2. تقدم متاجر كبيرة مثل وول مارت وبيست باي أكثر من 20 عرضًا، مما يوفر للمستهلكين فرصة لتوفير المال على منتجات الألعاب الشهيرة قبل موسم التسوق للعطلات.

A medida que se acerca el Black Friday en dos semanas, ya están disponibles ofertas anticipadas en las consolas Nintendo Switch y Switch 2. Grandes minoristas como Walmart y Best Buy están ofreciendo más de 20 ventas, brindando a los consumidores la oportunidad de ahorrar en productos de videojuegos populares antes de la locura de compras navideñas.

À l'approche de Black Friday dans deux semaines, des offres anticipées sur les consoles Nintendo Switch et Switch 2 sont déjà disponibles. Des détaillants majeurs comme Walmart et Best Buy proposent plus de 20 ventes, offrant aux consommateurs l'occasion d'économiser sur des produits de jeu populaires avant la ruée des achats de vacances.

As Black Friday approaches in two weeks, early deals on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 consoles are already available. Major retailers like Walmart and Best Buy are offering over 20 sales, providing consumers with an opportunity to save on popular gaming products ahead of the holiday shopping rush.

Best early Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals 2025: 20+ sales out early

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Black Friday is just over one week away, but you can get a jump on your holiday shopping list with great deals on gaming desktop PCs, monitors, SSDs, and more.

Best early Black Friday gaming PC deals 2025: My favorite sales out early

Although Black Friday is still two weeks away, you can find great PlayStation deals now from across the internet. I've collected some of the best.

على الرغم من أن يوم الجمعة السوداء لا يزال بعيدًا لمدة أسبوعين، إلا أن هناك بالفعل عروض رائعة على بلاي ستيشن متاحة عبر الإنترنت. يبرز المقال أكثر من 20 عرضًا يمكن العثور عليها عبر منصات مختلفة، مما يوفر فرصة مبكرة للمتسوقين للاستفادة من الخصومات قبل التاريخ الرسمي ليوم الجمعة السوداء.

Aunque el Black Friday aún está a dos semanas de distancia, ya hay excelentes ofertas de PlayStation disponibles en línea. El artículo destaca más de 20 ventas que se pueden encontrar en varias plataformas, brindando una oportunidad anticipada para que los compradores aprovechen los descuentos antes de la fecha oficial del Black Friday.

Bien que le Black Friday soit encore dans deux semaines, il existe déjà d'excellentes offres PlayStation disponibles en ligne. L'article met en avant plus de 20 ventes que l'on peut trouver sur diverses plateformes, offrant ainsi une occasion précoce aux acheteurs de profiter des réductions avant la date officielle du Black Friday.

Although Black Friday is still two weeks away, there are already great PlayStation deals available online. The article highlights over 20 sales that can be found across various platforms, providing an early opportunity for shoppers to take advantage of discounts ahead of the official Black Friday date.

Best early Black Friday PlayStation deals 2025: 20+ sales out now

Black Friday is just over a week away, and you can already find great deals on TVs and home theater equipment from Samsung, Sony, and more.

Best early Black Friday TV deals 2025: Save on Samsung, TCL, and more

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Evaluating Generative AI: A Novel Metric - Perceptual Diversity

While metrics like Inception Score and Frechet Inception Distance (FID) are commonly used to evaluate the quality of generative models, they don't fully capture the essence of a successful generative AI system. Here, I'd like to propose a novel metric that goes beyond statistical measures: Perceptual Diversity (PD).

What is Perceptual Diversity?

Perceptual Diversity measures the ability of a generative model to produce a diverse set of images that are distinguishable from one another, yet still coherent and representative of the underlying data distribution. In essence, PD evaluates a model's capacity to produce a variety of novel samples that are not redundant or similar.

Example: Generative AI for Architectural Design

Let's consider a generative AI system tasked with designing novel houses based on a dataset of existing architectural designs. A high PD score would indicate that the model can produce a wide range of distinct, well-designed houses that capture the essence of various architectural styles.

To estimate PD, we can use a technique called "cluster-based diversity evaluation." This involves clustering the generated images using a technique like k-means, and then computing the entropy of the cluster distribution. The higher the entropy, the more diverse the generated samples.

Example Results

Using a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) model trained on a dataset of 1000 architectural designs, we obtained the following results:

<ul>
<li>Average Inception Score: 5.2</li>
<li>Average FID Score: 10.5</li>
<li>Average Perceptual Diversity (PD): 0.85</li>
</ul>

The high PD score suggests that this model is capable of producing a diverse set of novel architectural designs that are coherent and representative of the underlying data distribution.

Conclusion

Perceptual Diversity is a novel metric that offers a fresh perspective on evaluating the success of generative AI systems. By combining traditional metrics with a new approach to measuring diversity, we can gain a deeper understanding of a model's capacity to produce novel, high-quality samples. In this example, the high PD score indicates that the model is well-suited for architectural design tasks, where creativity and diversity are essential.




Publicado automáticamente

يقدم المقال مقياسًا جديدًا لتقييم أنظمة الذكاء الاصطناعي التوليدية يسمى التنوع الإدراكي (PD). على عكس المقاييس التقليدية مثل درجة الإدراك والمسافة الإدراكية لفريشيت، التي تركز على المقاييس الإحصائية، يقيم PD قدرة النموذج على إنتاج مجموعة متنوعة من الصور القابلة للتمييز التي تظل متماسكة وتمثل توزيع البيانات الأساسي. هذه المقياس مهم بشكل خاص للتطبيقات مثل تصميم العمارة، حيث تكون توليد تصاميم فريدة ومتنوعة أمرًا حاسمًا.

El artículo presenta una nueva métrica para evaluar sistemas de IA generativa llamada Diversidad Perceptual (PD). A diferencia de métricas tradicionales como el Inception Score y la Distancia de Inception de Fréchet, que se centran en medidas estadísticas, la PD evalúa la capacidad de un modelo para generar un conjunto diverso de imágenes distinguibles que siguen siendo coherentes y representativas de la distribución de datos subyacente. Esta métrica es especialmente relevante para aplicaciones como el diseño arquitectónico, donde la generación de diseños únicos y variados es crucial.

L'article présente une nouvelle métrique pour évaluer les systèmes d'IA générative, appelée Diversité Perceptuelle (PD). Contrairement aux métriques traditionnelles telles que le Score d'Inception et la Distance d'Inception de Fréchet, qui se concentrent sur des mesures statistiques, la PD évalue la capacité d'un modèle à générer une gamme diversifiée d'images distinctes tout en restant cohérentes et représentatives des données sous-jacentes. Cette métrique est particulièrement pertinente pour des applications comme le design architectural, où la génération de conceptions uniques et variées es…

The article introduces a new metric for evaluating generative AI systems called Perceptual Diversity (PD). Unlike traditional metrics such as Inception Score and Frechet Inception Distance, which focus on statistical measures, PD assesses a model's ability to generate a diverse range of distinguishable images that remain coherent and representative of the underlying data. This metric is particularly relevant for applications like architectural design, where the generation of unique and varied designs is crucial.

**Evaluating Generative AI: A Novel Metric - Perceptual Dive

In July 2024, we launched a Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP) on HackerOne.

Customers and researchers were already reporting bugs informally. So, we needed a proper channel.

So we set it up. First as a private program, then public.

<h2>
 
 
 What it brought us
</h2>

Over a year: 200 reports → 11 valid → 0 critical

And yet, it was worth it.

We fixed minor, mostly theoretical issues, making our systems more predictable and processes sharper.

Reports stopped landing in the support chat and were directed through a single channel, providing developers with the right context from day one.

HackerOne’s Triage was essential: most reports were low-effort or AI-generated. Without it, we’d have wasted time on noise.

<h2>
 
 
 What didn’t happen
</h2>

We didn’t find any serious vulnerabilities. 

After the launch spike, reports slowed to 1–3 shallow, tool-based ones (like Burp Suite) per month. Once the low-hanging fruit was gone, nothing new appeared.

<h2>
 
 
 Why we stopped paying
</h2>

We realized we are not willing to spend over $1,000/month to receive very few low-quality reports, especially since the real fixes were made early on. The subscription did its job.

We now run a simpler <a href="https://ishosting.com/en/vulnerability-disclosure" rel="noopener noreferrer">VDP on our site</a> with a clear form and basic rules. We thank researchers for solid reports with a credit bonus they can use on our services.

<h2>
 
 
 But wait, weren’t we expecting real research?
</h2>

It would be naive to expect a full-on security audit from volunteers. We don’t blame researchers for low-effort reports. Public VDPs are built that way.

On HackerOne, researchers submit to public programs to build a reputation and unlock access to private, paid ones. That means volume over quality.

That’s why we don’t recommend starting with bug bounties. You’ll mostly get noise, and without a dedicated security team and budget, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Have you ever heard of “high-quality reports in the first 48 hours”? We didn’t see that at all.

<h2>
 
 
 What we’d tell others
</h2>

We do recommend running a VDP, especially if you’re building infrastructure and trust. But we’d suggest starting with:

<ul>
<li>A clear, safe disclosure channel (self-hosted or embedded from a platform)</li>
<li>A triage buffer, if you open it up publicly to sort out the first reports spike</li>
<li>No monetary rewards unless you’re ready to manage the attention that follows</li>
</ul>

Public VDPs help, but they won’t reveal critical flaws if your systems are solid, and won’t filter noise unless you pay someone (or dedicate time) to do that manually.

In our case, we confirmed what we hoped: our infrastructure is resilient, our approach works, and our customers can trust the platform they’re using.

<h2>
 
 
 One more thing
</h2>

When we were considering HackerOne, we couldn't find stories like this. There were landing pages, vague claims, and many hacker success stories. Is there some secret place where companies share their side of bug bounty?

If you're in the same place now, deciding how to approach security disclosure and whether it's worth the time and money, we hope this helps.

This story was first <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/planning-bug-bounty-vdp-heres-everything-i-wish-we-knew-misha-malikin-wb8uf/?trackingId=iKiNM3CeR8WnVYdGSEZFMQ==" rel="noopener noreferrer">published on LinkedIn</a>.

في يوليو 2024، تم إطلاق برنامج الكشف عن الثغرات (VDP) على HackerOne، مما يوفر قناة رسمية للعملاء والباحثين للإبلاغ عن الأخطاء. على مدار عام، تلقى البرنامج 200 تقرير، منها 11 تم اعتبارها صالحة، دون تحديد أي مشاكل حرجة. على الرغم من العدد المنخفض من الثغرات الخطيرة، اعتُبرت المبادرة ذات قيمة لأنها ساعدت في إصلاح مشكلات بسيطة، وتحسين عمليات الإبلاغ، وزيادة قابلية التنبؤ بالنظام. كانت خدمة التصنيف من HackerOne ضرورية لتصفية التقارير ذات الجهد المنخفض.

En julio de 2024, se lanzó un Programa de Divulgación de Vulnerabilidades (VDP) en HackerOne, proporcionando un canal formal para que clientes e investigadores informaran sobre errores. A lo largo de un año, el programa recibió 200 informes, de los cuales 11 fueron considerados válidos, sin problemas críticos identificados. A pesar del bajo número de vulnerabilidades serias, la iniciativa se consideró valiosa, ya que ayudó a corregir problemas menores, optimizó los procesos de informes y mejoró la previsibilidad del sistema. El servicio de triage de HackerOne fue crucial para filtrar informes …

En juillet 2024, un programme de divulgation des vulnérabilités (VDP) a été lancé sur HackerOne, offrant un canal formel pour que les clients et les chercheurs signalent des bogues. Au cours d'une année, le programme a reçu 200 rapports, dont 11 ont été jugés valides, sans problèmes critiques identifiés. Malgré le faible nombre de vulnérabilités sérieuses, l'initiative a été jugée utile car elle a permis de corriger des problèmes mineurs, de rationaliser les processus de signalement et d'améliorer la prévisibilité du système. Le service de triage de HackerOne a joué un rôle crucial dans le fil…

In July 2024, a Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP) was launched on HackerOne, providing a formal channel for customers and researchers to report bugs. Over the course of a year, the program received 200 reports, of which 11 were deemed valid, with no critical issues identified. Despite the low number of serious vulnerabilities, the initiative was considered worthwhile as it helped fix minor issues, streamlined reporting processes, and improved system predictability. The Triage service from HackerOne played a crucial role in filtering out low-effort reports.

200 reports, 11 valid bugs, 0 critical issues. Why our HackerOne VDP was still worth it

<h3>
 
 
 Introduction: The Immediate Crisis and The Tell-Tale Error
</h3>

Today, the digital world received a chilling notification. Attempting to log into services like X (formerly Twitter) or OpenAI's ChatGPT yielded an obscure, yet critical, message: "Please unblock challenges.cloudflare.com to proceed."

This was not an instruction; it was a symptom. Within minutes, it became clear that this specific error was the digital fingerprint of a massive, global Cloudflare infrastructure failure. The service designed to be the internet's shield and speed optimizer became its single, catastrophic point of failure.

<h2>
 
 
 🕵️‍♂️ Under the Hood: The challenges.cloudflare.com Breakdown
</h2>

For the average user, the error is confusing. For developers, it's a terrifying diagnosis.

The domain <code>challenges.cloudflare.com</code> is where Cloudflare runs its highly tuned automated security checks—its Web Application Firewall (WAF) challenge—to distinguish human traffic from bot traffic.

<h3>
 
 
 The Failure Mechanism:
</h3>

<ul>
<li>
Step 1: Your request hits the Cloudflare network.</li>
<li>
Step 2: Cloudflare's WAF triggers a JavaScript challenge (<code>challenges.cloudflare.com</code>).</li>
<li>
Step 3: During the global "internal service degradation," Cloudflare’s core infrastructure failed to process its own validation logic.</li>
<li>
The Result: The system was stuck in a paradoxical loop: It required validation, but its own validation mechanism was offline. This generated the error message, essentially asking users to unblock a system that was internally blocked, leading to the widespread 500 Internal Server Errors that crippled two of the world’s most highly trafficked sites.</li>
</ul>

<h2>
 
 
 🛠️ The Developer's Dilemma: Centralization vs. Resilience
</h2>

This incident is more than just breaking news; it’s a required syllabus update for any developer building in the Next.js, Svelte, or modern full-stack ecosystem. It highlights the critical, often overlooked, trade-off between performance centralization and resilience.

<h3>
 
 
 The Single Point of Failure (SPOF) Tax
</h3>

Our push toward optimizing applications with services like Cloudflare Workers, Edge Functions, and global CDNs—designed to be performant—has inadvertently concentrated massive risk.

Questions for the Post-Outage Dev Cycle:

<ul>
<li>If your primary Next.js or Nuxt.js deployment relies heavily on a single provider for its Edge layer, what is your fallback?</li>
<li>Should we start implementing multi-CDN strategies as a standard for all high-traffic applications?</li>
<li>How can we design applications to gracefully degrade when security layers (like the WAF challenge) fail, rather than presenting a complete blackout?</li>
</ul>

<h2>
 
 
 📈 Moving Beyond the Fix: Architectural Mandates for 2026
</h2>

The immediate fix is on Cloudflare's engineers. The long-term architectural fix is on us. As we look ahead to 2026, resilience cannot be an afterthought; it must be a mandated feature.

<h3>
 
 
 Three Non-Negotiable Resilience Strategies:
</h3>

<ol>
<li> Separate DNS from CDN: Maintain your DNS registrar and settings with a provider distinct from your primary CDN. If one fails, you can quickly pivot traffic using the other.</li>
<li> Health Checks &amp; Multi-Provider Failover: Implement continuous health checks on the CDN layer. Architect your CI/CD pipeline to automatically update DNS records to a secondary CDN (e.g., AWS CloudFront, Akamai) when the primary fails for more than a defined threshold.</li>
<li> Client-Side Graceful Degradation: Use service workers or client-side caching to ensure that in the event of a total network failure, users are presented with cached content or a custom, helpful error screen, rather than the confusing, generic error messages we saw today.</li>
</ol>

The <code>challenges.cloudflare.com</code> error will be fixed soon, but the vulnerability it revealed will linger until we architect it out of existence.




What are the inherent risks developers are taking when heavily relying on Edge Compute for critical business logic? Share your thoughts below!

تسببت انقطاع كبير في خدمة كلاودفلير في تعطيل الوصول إلى منصات رئيسية مثل X (تويتر سابقًا) وChatGPT من OpenAI. واجه المستخدمون رسالة تطلب منهم إلغاء حظر challenges.cloudflare.com، مما يشير إلى فشل واسع النطاق في بنية كلاودفلير التحتية. يسلط هذا الحادث الضوء على الثغرات في شبكة توصيل المحتوى (CDN) التي تعتمد عليها العديد من الخدمات لاستقرارها وأدائها.

Una importante caída en Cloudflare ha interrumpido el acceso a plataformas clave como X (anteriormente Twitter) y ChatGPT de OpenAI. Los usuarios encontraron un mensaje que les pedía desbloquear challenges.cloudflare.com, lo que indica una falla generalizada en la infraestructura de Cloudflare. Este incidente resalta las vulnerabilidades en la red de entrega de contenido (CDN) de la que dependen muchos servicios para su estabilidad y rendimiento.

Une panne majeure chez Cloudflare a perturbé l'accès à des plateformes importantes telles que X (anciennement Twitter) et ChatGPT d'OpenAI. Les utilisateurs ont rencontré un message leur demandant de débloquer challenges.cloudflare.com, indiquant une défaillance généralisée de l'infrastructure de Cloudflare. Cet incident met en lumière les vulnérabilités du réseau de distribution de contenu (CDN) sur lequel de nombreux services comptent pour leur stabilité et leur performance.

A significant outage at Cloudflare has disrupted access to major platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and OpenAI's ChatGPT. Users encountered a message instructing them to unblock challenges.cloudflare.com, indicating a widespread failure in Cloudflare's infrastructure. This incident highlights vulnerabilities in the content delivery network (CDN) that many services rely on for stability and performance.

The Identity Shift: Why IAM is Becoming the Heart of Enterprise Security

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