Why is PAM so important?
The past few years PAM – carefully managing and securing privileged accounts – became more important. With ‘privileged accounts’ we mean accounts with privileged access. Say what? With those privileged accesses a system or network administrator can execute certain actions that are not possible with a regular user account, like making changes within an application. Because of those extended rights, privileged accounts are ofter interesting targets for cyber criminals. When a cyber criminal gains access to one of those accounts he can cause serious damage. On top of that, it’s not uncommon for external partners to have important access to the infrastructure of an organization. No wonder privileged accounts need to be safe and secure.
How does PAM make a difference?
A common issue is keeping in overview of the different types of available accounts and the according access rights. Privileged Access Management offers the solution. Via a centralized overview it’s possible to guard and adapt the accesses per account at any time.
Users are often negligent when it comes to changing passwords regularly. PAM can make a difference here too. Via encrypted password vaults privileged accounts are automatically better secured, making it harder for cyber criminals to gain access.
To keep things clear, we will sum up a few benefits of PAM:
- By monitoring and logging privileged accounts your infrastructure is more secure.
- Access by external partners is mapped (think about suppliers maintaining your network).
- Damage cause by cyber attacks and internal misuse are limited considerably.
- Accidental changes can be prevented, since every change is registered.
- Encrypted password vaults offer a better security.
- Only the administrators of the PAM platform get specific managing accounts. All other users in your company have no access.
- It’s possible to gain automatically grant temporarily access for a one-time or exceptional intervention.
- ‘Just In Time’ gives a user a specific time slot during which they need to finalize a task. This way PAM guarantees nobody has crucial rights when not necessary.
- Each session is saved, which is important during audits and for compliancy reasons. This provides you with information about who changed what exactly during a session.
The above list is absolutely not limited. We could define a lot more benefits for the usage of PAM.
How does PAM work exactly?
With the function ‘Account Discovery’ the PAM platform looks for and collects all privileged accounts. These are stored in a digital vault, afterwards encrypted.
When a system or network administrator wants to gain access, they first have to identify themselves. Ideally, a multi-factor authenticator is set in place, requiring the user to take an extra step to authenticate after filling in their password. This could be an extra code, a finger print or face recognition. Only when this authentication is finished, the user will gain access to their account.
The PAM platform will register the entire session and will automatically change the account’s password for the next time.
Which role does spotit have?
Spotit will help you investigate which PAM platform suits your business best, and will support implementation. It’s possible to outsource the management of the platform to our spotit NOC team. When a security incident occurs, our SOC team will react immediately. This way, we can limit damage even before an attack succeeds.
But spotit goes the extra mile. Via thorough training and raising awareness within your teams, we can minimalize risks for your organization. By making sure everyone understands the importance of correct password usage our cybersecurity specialists help you take the step in the right direction. Let us guide you via a tailor-made solution and total unburdening.