How to Find and Delete Forgotten “Ghost” Accounts in Your Business Apps
/Every business has them, ghost accounts. These are user accounts left behind by former employees or contractors, or even outdated system processes that remain active. While they may seem harmless, ghost accounts can pose serious security risks. Often still holding access to your business apps and sensitive data, they create hidden entry points that cybercriminals can exploit. sometimes without even needing a password.
Finding and eliminating these accounts is a critical step in ensuring your digital space is safe. Every forgotten account is like a key left in the wrong hands, a key from a former employee you never got back. It’s time to reclaim those keys and lock down your systems.
The Phantom Threat: Why You Need to Hunt Ghost Accounts
Ghost accounts pose a significant security risk. These unmonitored identities in your system aren’t linked to active users, so any activity on them should be treated as suspicious and thoroughly investigated.
An attacker who gains control of a ghost account can operate inside your network with a shocking degree of freedom. Microsoft reports that 61% of attacks target sensitive accounts, and 40% involve lateral movement, meaning hackers can quickly spread from one compromised account to take over an entire network.
The consequences extend beyond immediate security. Strict access controls are a requirement for regulatory compliance frameworks like GDPR for data privacy and HIPAA for healthcare. Ghost accounts accessing protected information can lead to audit failures, heavy fines, and a loss of trust with your clients.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Ghost Accounts
Exposing these hidden threats isn’t as simple as glancing at a single report. A thorough cleanup means digging into multiple sources, cross-checking data, and making sure no risky accounts slip through the cracks.
Conduct Regular Access Reviews and Audits
Department managers and data owners should plan quarterly or semi-annual access reviews to confirm that all users in their system still require the permissions they were given. Apart from assisting in detecting ghost accounts, the procedure addresses the “entitlement creep,” the gradual accumulation of unnecessary permissions that users pick up as they move between roles.
Scrutinize Individual Application Logs
The critical pitfall many businesses fall into is relying entirely on their central Identity Provider (IdP) dashboard, like Okta or Entra ID. Doing so creates a risk if a sophisticated attacker, or even a savvy former employee, sets up a “ghost login” that creates an alternative local username and password that bypasses the single sign-on (SSO) you worked so hard to implement.
Your security team must log into the admin dashboards of individual SaaS applications and look for local accounts, API keys, or other login methods that exist outside the SSO system. Compare these user lists directly against your official HR records.
Compare Active User Lists with HR Records
This is your most direct weapon. Create a master list of every active user in your main business applications once a month. Any name on the application list missing on the HR roster should be considered a candidate for a ghost account. Make sure any generic accounts such as “admin,” “test,” and “support” are necessary and have their access controlled.
How to Delete and Secure Accounts
After identifying ghost accounts, it’s essential to handle them carefully. Deleting accounts hastily can disrupt services, so a simple, secure process is key.
Implement a Formal Deprovisioning Process
Collaborate with HR to tackle the issue at its source by implementing an automated de-provisioning process that immediately revokes all access as soon as an employee’s status is updated to 'terminated' in the HR system.
Remove Alternative Login Methods
Take action on any ghost logins discovered in specific applications. Where possible, disable local username/password logins and other non-SSO authentication methods once SSO is active. For essential service accounts that require API keys or local logins, make sure they are fully documented and assigned to the appropriate department.
Prioritize and Triage Your Findings
After the audit process, prioritize according to risk. Do this by considering:
Ghost Accounts: Delete or disable the ones linked to former staff.
Excessive Permissions: Reduce access to what is needed only.
Ghost Logins: Strengthen security by adding MFA, updating passwords or API keys, and removing unused access.
Preventing the Return of Ghosts
A one-time cleanup is great, but for a resilient security posture, you need to build systems that prevent ghost accounts from recurring. Shift your business from a reactive to a proactive stance.
Enforce Strong, Modern Authentication
Your number one technical defense is implementing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across every application that supports it. MFA reduces the risk of a compromised password leading to a full account takeover.
Furthermore, advocate for the use of a company-approved password manager to reduce the dangerous practice of password reuse, a key factor in credential stuffing attacks.
Adopt an Access Governance Framework
Adopt a Policy-Based Identity Lifecycle Management framework on top of ad hoc reviews. Automating user access and ensuring they adhere to established policies from the moment of onboarding until their termination keeps you safe.
Leverage Specialized Tools
Consider investing in tools designed for the specific problem. Through SaaS security management platforms, you can identify and manage application logins that you were not aware existed.
Promote Ongoing Employee Training
Finally, educate your employees on the risks of adopting applications without IT approval. If employees understand the “why” behind the policies, they are more willing to be participants in your security instead of being rule-followers.
Clean Up Ghost Accounts with BrainStomp
Eliminating ghost accounts may seem like a challenging task, but the benefits of reduced risk and a stronger security posture are enormous.
You don’t need to tackle everything at once. At BrainStomp, we help you prioritize your most critical apps, like email, customer databases, and financial systems. Don’t leave your digital environment to chance, check out BrainStomp’s solutions today and start protecting your business from ghost account risks.