Privileged access management is an important part of the security infrastructure for all organizations.
Enterprises need privileged access management to ensure that they maintain control over their sensitive data and systems. Utilizing this type of security system helps organizations:
These four categories all present their own unique challenges that can be solved when IT security takes advantage of privileged access management. Let’s deep dive into the details of these privileged access management use cases.
Enterprises today must store and protect a lot of sensitive information, including:
Cybercriminals want this confidential information so they can sell it on the dark web and make huge profits. It is crucial that this information is protected and only accessible by the people who need it. Many organizations focus on and invest in software to defend and protect against external threats, like malicious software or outside hackers. Securing online data is usually the first priority for organizations, but unfortunately this can expose weaknesses in the security infrastructure.
If a vulnerability is discovered, hackers will exploit the breach to gain access to privileged accounts. In this way, external and internal attacks go hand in hand. An external actor is now acting maliciously from within the organization, and they can often act within the core systems unnoticed. Many organizations don’t realize that these important accounts have been compromised until it is too late – potentially even years later.
Although organizations hope that their employees are trustworthy, the fact is that 69% of enterprises have experienced an insider attempting to steal confidential business information. Although it is unclear how many of these threats occurred due to compromised accounts, it is still a large enough number that organizations need to take the appropriate steps to defend against these threats.
The theft of this information usually occurs due to a weakness in the controlling and monitoring of privileged accounts. These privileged accounts could be set for super users, administrators, or external service providers, but without full control, access to these accounts can be obtained by other users. Maintaining control over these accounts is particularly difficult when organizations use shared accounts. Once an employee no longer needs access, the account cannot simply be deleted because it is shared with other users, but this leaves a vulnerability that an ex-user could use to still gain access to confidential information.
Maintaining control over the sensitive data of an organization is crucial, but ensuring that third parties follow your security policies can be a huge challenge. Many organizations use external service provides for a range of IT tasks. Unfortunately, once you give privileged account access to vendors, they have access to important company information. In the hands of vendors, you have no idea how these accounts are being used, and your organization could be left vulnerable.
Third parties can even subcontract within their organization, again another way that your organization loses control over the protection of your data. Every user and subcontractor of an external service provider is another potential way that data can be leaked, lost, or stolen, either intentionally or through human error. Although there are some security systems in place for dealing with these groups (IPSEC, SSL, VPN, etc.), these systems present their own issues, such as:
Organizations are more at risk of security breaches than ever before. As the threat landscape changes, regulatory and compliance standards become more demanding. Regulatory compliance protects users and provides full transparency of information security within an organization. This is why organizations must have a way to prove that they are meeting these standards.
Unfortunately, with many current security solutions, there are ways for privileged users to not only access sensitive information, but cover their tracks afterward. This can make it very difficult for an enterprise to understand what caused a breach and what further steps need to be taken to prevent a similar breach in the future.
All of the challenges associated with our privileged access management use cases can be solved with the robust WALLIX Bastion. This solution ensures:
The WALLIX AdminBastion Suite provides your enterprise with the security tools you need to control and secure sensitive data. Our architecture integrates with your existing security infrastructure and is highly adaptable. The full solution provides you with:
Want more information about the WALLIX solution? Contact us or schedule a demo.