IGA stands for Identity Governance and Administration. It is the part of identity security that manages who has access to what, why they have it, and when that access should be removed. IGA systems connect accounts to approved entitlements, review privileges, and enforce policy so access stays tied to business need.
In cyber security, IGA matters because excess or stale access is a common path to compromise. Attackers often benefit when accounts keep permissions after a role change, when service accounts are overprovisioned, or when delegated access is not revoked. Strong IGA helps defenders detect privilege creep, support audits, and prove compliance. In modern environments, it must also handle non-human identities such as applications and AI agents, where access may be granted by code rather than HR events. That makes ownership, scope, and revocation especially important.