Privileged identity management and privileged account management are other names for privileged access management (PAM). PAM is concerned with regulating and auditing access received through any form of administrative account connected to a system; whether on-premise, cloud, or hybrid.
According to a recent study by One Identity, 90% of administrators have access to several privileged accounts, and 75% of organizations exchange administrator login information.
In summary, privileged accounts have the following issues:
- They are all robust. Anyone with a privileged account could do almost whatever they desire if they possess the password. That is a lot of power packed into a single account. Securing and managing such an account is imperative.
- They circulate and get shared with others. The privileged account is required by anybody (or anything) who needs to carry out administrative tasks on the system. At times, these accounts can be human-operated, but it could be bots serving specific functions.
- They remain anonymous. Privileged accounts and the individuals (or objects) that share them are not subject to any kind of personal responsibility. There may be policies and regulations in place, but a password leak can be caused by an external attack vector that went below the radar. That makes only the organization truly responsible, and the CISO is held responsible for the all-around security and safety of privileged accounts.
- There is no clear-cut auditing of privileged accounts. It is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to monitor what an administrator is doing with a privileged account. That makes management of such accounts a method of auditing and monitoring as well.
- Without them, we would perish. To perform their duties, IT staff members, contractors, and suppliers must have sufficient access to the systems they oversee. This is not only true for large enterprises, but also small and medium businesses – due to the evergrowing number of cyber security threats, as well as the increasingly complex account functions.
This is why privileged access management is such an important cyber security system. It deals with all of the above issues, closing down vulnerabilities of systems, computers, and individuals; across the premise, and cloud infrastructures.
Here are the benefits of implementing a PAM security model:
1. Enforce a least-privilege model
Control the level of access and by doing so limit the privileges. Administrators can limit the level of threat by managing privileged accounts. You may have different access permits that you assign to users and accounts. That already curbs your gaps.
2. Eliminate password sharing
No need to exchange passwords anymore. Manage all the passwords from one place and limit the threats of identity theft, and social engineering.
Aside from PAM solutions, you may learn more about Identity governance and administration, as it is also a cyber security front that deals with identity management.
3. Watch what is done with elevated access
Observation and studying the behavior of certain accounts may reveal the culprit. Whether you are dealing with an exogenous attack, the malware installed, or a backdoor accessed, an expert with a knack for hacking will spot the cause of the threat.
4. PAM Analytics
Privileged behavior analytics may monitor how privileged credentials are used and identify instances of abuse or inappropriate activity. The system establishes a continuous foundation with each privileged user that logs biometric information, such as typing patterns and mouse movement patterns, and combines it with location- and time-based data and usual command behavior. Based on this information, it may identify unusual behavior, such as when a malicious actor poses as a genuine privileged user. Analytics is foundational to any pillar of identity access and management solutions, and that includes multi-factor authentication.
