When talking about Privileged Access Management, it’s important to focus on the real objective: to ensure that only the right person can access the right system at any given time. A password vault can easily handle that, but you really need more. It’s far more important to ensure that when someone accesses a target, this person does only what they are supposed to do, and nothing more.
Security managers today understand they need to either implement or upgrade their Privileged Access Management (PAM) programs. The role of privileged account abuse in many recent, serious cyberattacks reveals just how important this aspect of security has become. Success, it turns out, involves more than just acquiring a PAM solution and installing it.
Ensuring security across organizations is complicated. Between securing the perimeter, enforcing password policies, and attempting to stop breaches before they occur, there is a lot that needs to be considered. Implementing robust privileged identity management through advanced session management tools is one of the key steps to improving organizational security.
After a trying day at the Security Operations Center (SOC), a Privileged Access Management (PAM) super-admin just wants to have a nice cup of tea and a few minutes relaxing in front of the television before turning in for the night. But, as he dozes and slips into an InfoSec fever dream, he desperately seeks entertainment, flipping through the channels, returning again and again to the classic “New Rules” segment of “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Misappropriation of user identity is one of the root causes of many serious cybersecurity incidents. The threat can appear as a malicious actor impersonating an authorized system user, a hacker creating a fictitious user account, or a legitimate user taking improper actions. In each case, security managers may have trouble detecting the actions of an ill-intentioned user or they discover the problem after the fact.
