If you have already heard about PAM, but still don’t know its benefits for companies of all sizes and segments, read our text. In it, we present the main functionalities of privileged access management solutions.

Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions are a feature that gives organizations greater control over their privileged accounts, as well as visibility into activities performed by privileged users after login.

In practice, PAM allows you to protect these accounts that make it possible to access high-level systems through a password vault, where login credentials are stored. Thus, users have access to data only after verifying their identity through data associated with additional mechanisms, such as Multiple Factor Authentication (MFA).

This makes it possible to prevent unauthorized access into systems, reduce the attack surface, keep organizations in compliance with security requirements, conduct audits and detect suspicious activity.

In this article, we address the importance of PAM solutions to promote cybersecurity and prevent cyberattacks in organizations of all sizes and segments. To make it easier to read, we have divided our text by topics. They are:

1. Is PAM required?

2. What is the PAM software for?

3. Who needs PAM?

4. What problems does PAM solve?

5. Conclusion

Enjoy your reading!

1. Is PAM required?

Privileged access management solutions are essential for organizations of all sizes and industries due to the need to protect privileged credentials from unauthorized access and problems such as leaks and data breaches.

That’s because when attackers break into a standard user account, they have access to limited resources for that specific user. On the other hand, by invading a privileged account, their reach will be greater, as well as the damage they can cause, compromising entire organizations.

Additionally, Gartner has named PAM the #1 security project for two consecutive years, showing the importance of this tool in promoting cybersecurity and preventing a cyberattack.

2. What is the PAM software for?

Privileged user accounts are often targeted by cybercriminals as they have elevated permissions, access to sensitive data, and the ability to change settings.

When this type of account is compromised, organizations face major problems, related to downtime, loss of credibility and high financial losses.

PAM has the function of controlling and monitoring access to privileged data of a company. Through it, it is possible to manage password and shared access, privileged session, third-party access and access to applications, among other functionalities.

3. Who needs PAM?

Organizations of all sizes and segments deal with data and can suffer the severe consequences of a leak or breach.

This means that all companies need privileged access management solutions to prevent cyberattacks and avoid disruptions with downtime, loss of reputation and lawsuits.

4. What problems does PAM solve?

PAM solves a series of problems, from the following answers:

• Compliance.
• Reduction of the attack surface.
• Visibility of actions performed through privileged credentials.
• Protection of the organization against internal threats.
• Protection of data and critical applications.
• Mitigation of the effects of a security incident.

Learn more about each of them:

• Compliance

To avoid fines and penalties, companies need to follow a range of regulations, including data protection laws. However, employees often neglect this need.

The good news is that privileged access management solutions give administrators greater control, improving regulatory compliance through the least privilege policy, which guarantees each user only the access strictly necessary to perform their activities.

• Attack surface reduction

Another advantage of the least privilege policy, made possible through privileged access management solutions, is the reduction of the attack surface due to greater control of access to company resources.

In practice, this means that, in the event of an invasion, the damage caused by hackers will be limited, since it will not be possible to reach all data stored in IT environments.

• Visibility of actions performed through privileged credentials

Privileged access management solutions provide even greater visibility into the actions performed using these credentials, allowing you to monitor this type of access and know exactly who has access to which resources.

In addition, it is possible to record sessions and keep a history of user activities, which allows reviewing access in case of any suspicious activity.

• Protection of the organization against insider threats

Employees and outsourced collaborators represent an internal threat to organizations, especially when these people leave the organization and maintain their access to company resources.

In this sense, privileged access management solutions are essential, as they allow interrupting access when an employee leaves, reducing the risk of malicious activities.

• Data protection and critical applications

Some companies, such as financial institutions and health organizations, have access to extremely sensitive data, which cannot be exposed, at the risk of triggering lawsuits and loss of credibility.

Therefore, privileged access management solutions are indispensable tools to prevent a cyberattack and ensure cybersecurity in this context.

• Mitigation of the effects of a security incident

Privileged access management solutions are also useful when an administrative account is attacked, as they make it possible to detect or block your connection as quickly as possible to reduce damage.

Therefore, it is advisable to invest in PAM to have greater control over privileged access to your company’s data and resources, avoiding losses that are difficult to repair.

5. Conclusion

In this article, we show the advantages of PAM for companies of different sizes and segments. If this content was relevant to you, share it with someone who wants to learn more about privileged access management solutions.