PAM gains importance in the face of risks from privileged accounts

News summary

Not all accounts hold the same value for an attacker. A user credential may grant access to email or documents, but an administrative account can allow for configuration changes, user creation, disabling controls or accessing entire systems. This is why Privileged Access Management, known as PAM, is gaining importance.

The core idea is to reduce the duration and scope of privileges. Instead of maintaining permanent administrative accounts, many organisations grant elevated permissions only when necessary and for a limited period. Furthermore, they log the use of these credentials and protect the most sensitive operations with additional controls.

Service accounts deserve special attention. Applications, scripts and automated processes often use credentials that remain active for years. If no one knows where they are stored or which systems depend on them, rotating them becomes an operational risk. Cataloguing them and replacing static secrets with managed identities where possible simplifies security.

It is also advisable to separate administrative tasks from daily use. Checking email, browsing the internet or opening documents from a privileged account unnecessarily expands exposure.

PAM does not have to start with a complex platform. A company can progress by first identifying its critical accounts, applying strong authentication, removing unnecessary privileges and defining controlled emergency access.

A useful indicator is the number of permanent privileges versus temporary privileges. Reducing the former diminishes the window of opportunity for an attacker. It is also advisable to log the highest-impact administrative sessions and separately review emergency accounts, which must exist but remain specially protected.