What is Privileged Access Management (PAM)? (2024)

External privilege threat vectors

"65% of breaches being caused by external threat actors" - Verizon's 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report

Privileged accounts are a favorite among attackers looking to gain full access to sensitive data servers without attracting suspicion. Hackers usually manipulate gullible, privileged users (via phishing, spoofed websites, and other tactics) into giving up information that allows the attackers to circumvent the firm's security and gain network access.

Once inside, hackers immediately prowl around for unmanaged privileged credentials and escalate themselves to domain administrator status, which provides them with unrestricted access to highly sensitive information systems. The best way to tackle this threat is to completely lock down all privileged credentials in a central, encrypted vault; enforce role-based controls; mandate multi-factor authentication for vault access; and log all incoming requests.

Internal privilege threats

At times, the biggest threats are the ones that are closer to home. Likewise, insider privilege misuse is a rapidly growing concern today in organizations of all sizes. The Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report 2024 indicates that internal privileged threat actors have caused 35% of breaches, growing from 20% the previous year.

Internal privileged users with the wrong intentions, such as those seeking personal gain, can cause more damage than external parties. The inherent trust placed in insiders enables them to take advantage of their existing privileges, siphon off sensitive data, and sell it to an external party without the organization noticing until it is too late.

To protect critical information assets from such malicious internal actors, it is vital to constantly monitor every privileged user's activities in real time and leverage behavior anomaly detection and threat analytics.

Privilege risks due to negligent employees

76% of breaches involved the Human Element, including Social Attacks, Errors and Misuse - Verizon's 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report

Careless employees are a difficult threat to manage without proper privileged access management. They are users who do not understand the significance of cybersecurity. They recklessly leave critical user credentials lying around for hackers to find or they sometimes share their access privileges with unauthorized employees.

A typical example is DevOps engineers dumping their codes, which contain authentication tokens for internal servers, on open platforms like GitHub and forgetting about them. Such dangerous practices can only be controlled by robust privileged access governance that ensures, along with comprehensive auditing, that every privileged activity can be linked to a specific user.

Privilege threats due to remote vendors and ex-employees

Remote vendors make up the extended business network of an organization. They usually include contractors, consultants, partners, third-party maintenance teams, and service providers who require privileged access to your internal infrastructure for a variety of business needs. Many organizations depend on multiple contractors to get work done. In today's digital world, this means third-parties have access to your internal network for business requirements and therefore pose the same threat as insiders.

Another type of user who presents the same risk is an unhappy or financially motivated ex-employee. Disgruntled employees who have moved on from the firm but still posses access rights can leverage them to gain illegitimate access, steal data, and sell it to hackers. Handling such threat scenarios requires regularly reviewing employees' and contractors' privileges and removing needless rights.

More privileges than necessary

Often, users are overprivileged, having access rights that are far more than what they need to perform their job duties. As a result, there is a gap between granted permissions and used permissions. In such instances, it is important to apply the principle of least privilege (PoLP) by providing only the minimum amount of permissions required to complete a work task. Without a proper privileged access management system to enforce least privilege security and to monitor user actions, overprivileged user accounts can be leveraged for illegitimate access.

Privileges that are never rescinded

Forgotten privileges are dangerous. IT administrators often provision users with privileged access to data servers and then fail to revoke the access. Without a tool to track who has been given what privileges, retracting permissions is a cumbersome task. This means users continue to hold privileges even after their job is done, and they have the opportunity to execute unauthorized operations. In this case, a privileged access management tool can help IT managers grant users the least required privileged access with timing presets. Once the stipulated time is up, the tool revokes the privileges automatically.

Privilege risks due to unclear records

This is a subtle threat that can emerge as a huge disadvantage if your organization suffers a data breach. Without comprehensive privileged activity logs and clear evidence that can provide context about the incident in question, forensic investigations can fail, destroying your brand's reputation and the trust you have built with your customers.

Privileged access, unless completely managed with powerful controls and constantly monitored, can subject your organization to the risk of data overexposure and consequently result in business disruption, lawsuits, investigation costs, and reputation damage.

Privileged access management should be one of your top long-term security projects to eliminate weaknesses in your cybersecurity posture and successfully neutralize emerging privileged access risks.