Gartner Selects Privileged Access Management as #1 Priority in Cybersecurity
Privileged Access Management, or simply PAM, is in the first place from the list of projects that should gain CISOs’ attention around the world.
The current cybersecurity scenario
Attacks against systems have become quite common, resulting not only in financial losses but also reputation and image losses towards customers. And the trend is for a significant increase in the number and severity of these attacks in the coming years. With the increasing intensity of cyber attacks, cybersecurity risks are steadily growing. In addition to classic phishing and malware methods, the attack scenarios also encompass sophisticated viruses – which exploit zero-day vulnerabilities in software – to advanced techniques of social engineering in this new context. Thus, to ensure business continuity, it is necessary to protect devices, computer networks, and their respective data from malicious actions.
A high-privilege user – internal or a third-party one – has administrative access through a privileged account. Through this credential, one can change a number of settings, as well as modify other user accounts or security protections. Therefore, all accesses performed in the environment must be managed, and an unauthorized user should never have access to data or systems. Quite the opposite, in a scenario of increased data leakage, administrator users need even stiffer access control.
Finally, organizations often need to adhere to a range of regulatory requirements. GDPR, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework are some of the regulations and standards that need to be followed to protect them from cyber attacks or mitigate their consequences.
What is the impact of privileged credentials on cybersecurity?
The main purpose of cyber attacks – both inside and outside the organization – is to exploit privileged access and unduly acquire sensitive data. This data is typically stored in IT applications and devices and is the preferred target of malicious agents to gain unauthorized access to data. High-privilege credentials, standard system accounts, or credentials embedded in scripts and applications are the primary attack vectors used to gain access to the IT environment. Through a phishing attack, for example, a hacker can invade a device, and then spread through the network via privileged credentials, infecting the environment and gaining undue access to privileged information.
Organizations that, in addition to their own employees, also deal with suppliers and third parties usually need to grant privileged access to technological resources in their environment. However, even if the organization implements rigid security protocols, it is impossible to ensure compliance of those third-party actions with its Information Security Management policies. A malicious agent can, for example, attack a third party to gain access to the organization’s environment. Thus, it is a business’ obligation to ensure that privileged access from third parties is properly controlled, managed, and tracked.
How does Privileged Access Management solve this problem?
Privileged Access Management, or simply PAM, the technology and processes that control administrative access to critical systems appear in these situations to help companies achieve their cybersecurity goals. In addition, the need for effective Privileged Access Management has never been greater, while traditional defense mechanisms – such as firewalls, VPNs, and antivirus – are increasingly subject to failure. Finally, we see the media reporting data leakages in organizations of different industries and sizes more frequently than ever, and they have had customers’ data compromised, which affected hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
How does senhasegura allow the implementation of Privileged Access Management?
senhasegura is a software and hardware-based PAM solution that stores, manages, and monitors all credentials, such as passwords, SSH keys, and digital certificates in a secure, tamper-resistant location. By using cryptographic mechanisms, senhasegura offers users the ability to access a series of credentials registered in the solution. In addition, through senhasegura, one can safely access all network resources through a series of protocols, storing all usage records for audit and compliance analysis purposes. Its intelligence allows the real-time analysis of the actions taken by users and the generation of alerts to identify frauds or unfair actions. Therefore, it is possible to meet the requirements of standards and regulations through senhasegura.
By using senhasegura, organizations can reduce their compliance costs with a single solution, without the need for agents. The ease of use and deployment of the senhasegura solution, besides granular access controls, credential management, detailed logs and session recording, and the ability to discover assets and credentials are ideal not only for the implementation of regulatory requirements, but to effectively improve the behavior of any organization towards cybersecurity.
Conclusion
Cyber attacks and data leakages are no surprise in the Information Security field. With the increasing sophistication of attacks on organizations of all sizes, the question is not whether the company will suffer a cyber attack, but when that attack will take place, and what its consequences will be.
Controlling privileged actions in an organization’s infrastructure enables IT systems to be protected from any attempt to perform malicious actions such as theft or improper modifications to the environment – both inside and outside the company.
In this context, a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution can be considered an important tool to speed up the deployment of a cybersecurity infrastructure. A PAM solution also enables you to perform identity, access control, and privileged credential functions by adhering to a number of cybersecurity risk management recommendations.
The ease of use and deployment of the senhasegura solution, besides granular access controls, credential management, detailed logs and session recording, and the ability to discover assets and credentials are ideal for implementing best market practices, allowing any company to not only be in compliance with regulations and standards but to reduce its risk in cybersecurity.