What is PAM?
Privileged Access Management or PAM comprises cybersecurity strategies & technologies for wielding control over the privileged (elevated) access & permissions for users, accounts, processes, and systems across an IT environment.
Examples of privileged access used by humans:
- Superuser account
- Domain administrative account
- Local administrative account
- Secure socket shell (SSH) key
- Emergency account
- Privileged business user
PAM for cybersecurity
Companies that give high priority to PAM programs as a component
of their overall cybersecurity strategy can derive a wide range of organizational benefits.
This includes mitigating security risks & decreasing the overall cyber attack surface, lowering operational costs & complexity, improving visibility & situational awareness across the enterprise, and enhancing regulatory compliance.
What are privileges and how are they created?
In an IT context, privilege is the authority a specific account or process has inside a computing system or network. It gives the authority to override or bypass particular security restrictions. It may also comprise permissions to carry out actions like shutting down systems, loading device drivers, configuring networks or systems, provisioning & configuring accounts and cloud instances, etc.
Privileges for different user accounts & processes are built into operating systems, file systems, applications, databases, hypervisors, cloud management platforms, etc. They can also be assigned by specific kinds of privileged users, like a system or network administrator.
What are privileged accounts?
Any account that gives exclusive access & privileges than those provided to non-privileged accounts is termed a privileged account. Due to their elevated capabilities & access, privileged accounts present significantly higher risks as compared to non-privileged accounts.
Following are a few examples of privileged accounts generally used in an organization:
- Local administrative accounts
- Domain administrative accounts
- Break glass (also known as emergency or firecall) accounts
- Service accounts
- Active Directory or domain service accounts
- Application accounts
What are privileged credentials?
Privileged credentials or privileged passwords are a subset of credentials that give elevated access & permissions across accounts, applications, and systems.
Why PAM is important?
It’s important to remember that breaches always start with a compromised access before it expands laterally.
A PAM system assists companies in effectively monitoring the whole network as well as offers insight into the kind of data access each user has.
Implementing a PAM system is one of the finest methods by which a company can protect against external threats by averting malicious parties from getting access to sensitive corporate data via internal accounts.
Moreover, for the last 3 years or so, all the leading industry analysts refer to PAM as the top cybersecurity priority that the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) should consider.
Why Is Privileged Access Management (PAM) Important For Your Organization?
To put it in brief, the following are 4 reasons why PAM is crucial for your company:
- Always remember that humans are the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain
- Privileges are omnipresent in digital business
- Cybercriminals target endpoints & workstations
- PAM is paramount for achieving compliance
Benefits of Privileged Access Management
PAM provides various pivotal benefits, such as:-
- A condensed attack surface that delivers protection against internal as well as external threats
- Decreased malware infection & propagation
- Improved operational performance
- Simple to achieve & prove compliance
Privileged Access Management Best Practices
Check out the 9 most significant best practices of PAM:
- Establish & implement an exhaustive privilege management policy
- Detect and bring under management all privileged accounts & credentials
- Administer least privilege over end-users, endpoints, accounts, applications, services, systems, etc.
- Enforce separation of privileges & duties
- Segment systems & networks
- Implement password security best practices
- Monitor & audit all privileged activity
- Administer vulnerability-based least-privilege access
- Enforce privileged threat/user analytics
How PAM Is Implemented / Key Solutions
PAM solutions can be fully integrated within one platform. They can manage the entire privileged access lifecycle while also being served by separate solutions across several different unique use classes. They are usually organized across the following primary disciplines:
- Privileged Account & Session Management (PASM)
- Privilege Elevation & Delegation Management (PEDM)
- Endpoint least privilege management
- Server & infrastructure privilege management
- Active Directory (AD) Bridging
- Real-time change auditing
- Secure Remote Access software
BeyondTrust for Privileged Access Management
BeyondTrust is the global leader in Privileged Access Management. Their world-class solutions reduce risk, achieve least privilege & attain operational efficiency.
BeyondTrust’s Universal Privilege Management approach provides a frictionless experience for users, enabling the ideal level of access at the right time.
The following are the best-in-class solutions offered by BeyondTrust.
- Privileged Password Management
- Endpoint Privilege Management
- Secure Remote Access & Support
The FVC-BeyondTrust Partnership
The Value-Added Distributor (VAD) for BeyondTrust in the MEA region, FVC offers world-class solutions that help secure every privilege, every time.
With around two decades of expertise in operating in the MEA region, more than a century of expert team members, 300 enterprise customers & 500 transacting partners, FVC is today one of the leading VADs in the MEA region.
FAQs
1) What exactly is PAM?
Privileged Access Management (PAM) is basically a class of solutions that assist in securing, controlling, managing & monitoring privileged access to key assets.
2) Why do we use PAM?
Privileged Access Management enables organizations to ensure that only the required levels of access are provided to individuals to perform their jobs. PAM moreover helps security teams detect malicious actions related to privilege abuse and take quick action to mitigate risk.
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