Identity and data breaches are the most common and have spiked in the last few years. The major challenge for companies is keeping their customers’ identities safe. According to the Harvard review, there was a 20% increase in overall data breaches from the last two years (2022 to 2023). These scammers target privileged accounts where they hold information for ransom or blackmail.
In the modern world of technology, networks are set up on-premises or in the cloud. Ideally, you should track and monitor all the office and remote devices, and assess data continuously and make reports on permissions and accessibility.
Sounds hectic?
Well, it doesn’t have to be because you can always rely on privileged access management software. But what is it, and how do you know the best software for your business?
What is Privileged Access Management software?
Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a complete set of policies, strategies, and technology that govern, oversee, and protect access to essential resources for human and service accounts.
PAM solutions help businesses gain control over privileged access to important company data, making it easier to keep it out of the hands of cybercriminals.
With the correct PAM technologies, security teams may exert granular control over critical systems and monitor the use of privileged business assets.
Effective PAM is critical to protecting against cybersecurity risks and avoiding catastrophic user errors, whether an organization is a small start-up or a large corporation.
It improves workflow efficiency and ensures adherence to company policies and regulatory norms.
What Key Features Should You Look For In A PAM Solution?
There are many privileged identity and access management systems available in the market. However, it is challenging to choose the one suitable to your business needs. The features vary from each solution; therefore, you must learn about their offering and your needs before choosing the right one.
Define use cases and the ideal solution capabilities for your company. For example, you might need special features for analytics, file integrity monitoring, asset and vulnerability management, service account management, and more). Before deciding on privileged access in your environment, ensure you have the cases in hand.
Many businesses rely on a partner to help them test and assess possible solutions.
Professional security evaluations can help you achieve a successful deployment by defining what your privileged accounts protect and objectively detailing current security policies, controls, and procedures.
The main features to look at in your Privileged Access Management software for small businesses are:
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Privileged Credential Management with Multifactor Identification:
Manages the process of saving and retrieving passwords for privileged user accounts to limit the danger of credential theft. Administrators can establish and revoke credentials from a central location. This feature requires privileged users to prove their identity in many ways before gaining access to company systems and applications.
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Just-in-time (JIT) PAM Methods:
Ensures that accounts only obtain privileged access when necessary and for the duration of a business job. This prevents user accounts from having heightened access capabilities for any longer than necessary to minimize exploitation by internal users or external threats.
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Monitoring and Analytics
The most important aspects of a privileged access control system are analytics and monitoring. To monitor your users’ activity, spot irregularities in utilizing their privileged accounts, and uncover potential security concerns before they become a problem.
A good solution should have monitoring built in so you can easily observe what’s happening with your network. It should also be fast to deploy and simple to use—you should not have to spend hours training employees on how to access their accounts or who has which privilege level before being able to monitor them with this tool.
Senhasegura is a PAM solution built for high performance and ease of use, reducing friction for users and making security more accessible.
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Role-Based Access Control
RBAC is an excellent method for managing privileged access. It improves both security and accountability, which are critical features of privileged access management.
Role-based access can restrict user access to data, improving security governance and accountability. For example, if you have a job that holds sensitive information, such as cash flow or inventory funds, only those with that role will have read-only access to it in that platform’s directory structure.
This way, if an employee leaves your organization without prior notice, they will not be able to access files containing sensitive information.
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Privilege Elevation and Delegation
Another important feature to look for in a PAM tool is privilege escalation and delegation. It should have a secure mechanism for granting users temporary privileges for certain tasks or actions. For example, a network engineer may require temporary administrator access to troubleshoot a crucial issue.
The solution should also support privilege delegation, which allows users to give their permissions to other users without disclosing their credentials. This functionality is useful for teams working together on crucial systems and applications.
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Integration with SIEM and Other Security Tools
A PAM solution should also be compatible with other security tools, including SIEM systems, threat intelligence platforms, and identity and access management (IAM) solutions.
Integration with SIEM systems allows for real-time correlation of privileged user activity and security events, resulting in faster incident response and threat mitigation.
Integration with other security technologies can also help enforce security policies, detect and respond to security issues, and manage user identities and access permissions.
Bottom Line
When you are running a small or large business, the major concern for today’s needs is to keep the identity of your customers safe. You don’t have in-house resources? Well, not everyone has this crazy budget.
Therefore, they look for the best cyber security companies in Dubai. As you look around, you will see that we at Evad have custom-privileged access management software solutions for you. If you want it tailored for your business, we can help. Watch a demo for Senhasegura to see how easy and efficient it is. Or do you need consulting services? Let us help you with it and keep your business secure.