Inside IT Security & Privileged Users Management

Contrary to popular belief, cyberattacks are not (always) a massive attempt to take over or disable your infrastructure. While a wide DDOS attack can be used as a decoy, the real work is more subtle, more elaborate. Consider a James Bond film, for example. The bad guy would try to infiltrate your organization quietly, identify its weaknesses, and attempt to gain power gradually in order to fulfill his villainous plan.

Just as in those Bond movies, broad, external defenses are not enough, and usually countermeasures come too late to stop the infiltration. This is especially true for fragmented organizations and enterprises relying heavily on external contractors and employees working remotely. Once an enemy has found his way in, the whole organization falls. With 69% of breaches perpetrated by outsiders like organized criminal groups and nation-states, it takes a special problem-solver like 007 to save the day.

There have been quite a few security breaches to hit the news in 2018. As each story broke, it seemed like it couldn't get worse, only to find that the next data breach was just around the corner, and even more severe, exposing the data of millions of customers worldwide. We have had a few of those this year.

Privileged access management, or PAM, is software that helps organizations maintain complete control and visibility over their most critical systems and data. A robust PAM solution ensures that all user actions, including those taken by privileged users, are monitored and can be audited in case of a security breach.

Organizational security often begins with password management. Even the most basic of organizations use passwords to protect email accounts and document management solutions, while larger organizations may need to worry about HIPAA compliance, protecting industrial control systems, and more. Ensuring security with robust password management policies is key, and utilizing enterprise password management software, such as the WALLIX Bastion Password Manager, significantly simplifies this daunting task.