Shared Signals: Turning Identity Governance Findings into Real-Time Action
30 Sep 2026
Imagine a governance system detects a toxic combination of entitlements: an employee can both create a vendor and approve payments to that vendor. The conflict appears in a dashboard, but unless someone takes action, the risk remains until the next access review or manual intervention.
This illustrates a persistent challenge in identity governance. Organizations are increasingly good at identifying risks, but detection alone is not enough. When governance and security systems operate independently, valuable information often remains within the system that discovered it.
Closing the Gap Between Detection and Response
Today’s identity security landscape consists of specialized systems. IGA governs identities and access, PAM controls privileged accounts, identity providers detect compromised credentials, and endpoint security solutions monitor device posture.
Each system provides part of the overall picture. What is often missing is the connection between them.
A security event may require an immediate governance response. At the same time, a governance finding such as excessive privilege, a Segregation of Duties (SoD) violation, or a change in risk level may be highly relevant to other security systems. Without a way to exchange this information, important context remains isolated.
This is where the Shared Signals Framework (SSF) comes into play.
Shared Signals Work in Both Directions
The OpenID Shared Signals Framework provides a standardized way for systems to exchange identity and security events. Instead of relying on periodic data transfers or manual handovers, relevant events can be communicated when they occur.
For identity governance, this works in two directions: receiving external security signals and emitting governance intelligence.
When NEXIS receives a signal, an external event can become the starting point for a governed response. If an endpoint security solution reports that a device has fallen out of compliance, for example, NEXIS can resolve the event to the corresponding identity and trigger a targeted access review. The reviewer receives the relevant context, including affected entitlements, existing SoD conflicts, and risk information.
The other direction is equally important. NEXIS can turn governance findings into signals that other security systems can act on.
Consider the toxic combination from the opening. As soon as it is detected, NEXIS can emit a signed “Toxic Combination Identified” signal. A SIEM can open a case with the relevant risk context, while a PAM solution can suspend privileged sessions. A governance finding that might otherwise remain in a dashboard becomes actionable security intelligence.
From Visibility to Action
As the leading Identity Visibility and Intelligence Platform (IVIP), NEXIS brings together identity-related data across the IAM landscape to create a unified view and derive actionable intelligence. Shared Signals extend this approach by connecting that intelligence with the wider security ecosystem.
NEXIS can consume signals from other systems, evaluate them in an identity governance context, and initiate defined responses. At the same time, governance insights from NEXIS can be shared with SIEM, SOAR, IdP, PAM, XDR, and other security systems.
Both directions use the same deterministic trigger engine that supports workflows and recertifications within NEXIS. This makes reactions traceable and auditable. Teams can understand which event triggered an action, when it happened, and what the outcome was.
Signal monitoring is integrated into NEXIS ISPM, providing visibility into incoming and outgoing signals, their delivery status, and their relation to the overall identity risk posture.
For organizations evaluating Shared Signals capabilities, three questions matter:
- Can the platform both receive and emit signals?
- Are responses based on deterministic, auditable triggers?
- Is there visibility into the signals exchanged and their delivery status?
Turning Identity Intelligence into Action
Identity governance has traditionally focused on understanding and controlling access: who has access to what, whether that access is appropriate, and where policies are being violated.
Shared Signals take this a step further. Security events can immediately inform governance decisions, while governance findings can trigger responses elsewhere in the security ecosystem.
The result is a continuous exchange between identity governance and security. Instead of valuable findings remaining isolated in individual systems, they become part of a coordinated response.
See how NEXIS can exchange signals with your existing security stack.
