In almost every serious breach, there’s a moment when the attacker gains administrative control. It might be a domain admin password found in a script, a cloud root account without MFA, a service account with far more rights than it needs, or a vendor’s always-on remote support connection. From that point, the attacker can disable defenses, move freely, deploy ransomware, and exfiltrate data.
Privileged access management (PAM) exists to make that moment as hard to reach and as short-lived as possible. This article covers the privileged access management best practices that matter most, how to roll them out in a practical order, and the mistakes that leave privileged access exposed even after a PAM tool has been purchased.
What Is Privileged Access Management?
Privileged access management is the combination of policies, processes, and technology used to control, monitor, and audit elevated access to critical systems and data. Privileged access includes any account or credential that can change configurations, access sensitive data broadly, or administer other users.
Types of Privileged Accounts
- Domain and directory administrators in Active Directory or cloud identity providers
- Local administrator accounts on servers and workstations
- Cloud root, owner, and global administrator accounts
- Database administrators and application super-users
- Network and security device administrators for firewalls, switches, and security tools
- Service accounts used by applications and scheduled tasks
- Machine identities such as API keys, secrets, and certificates in DevOps pipelines
- Break-glass emergency accounts
- Third-party and vendor accounts with administrative access
Why Privileged Access Is a Prime Target
Privileged credentials give attackers leverage. Joint NSA and CISA analysis of common cybersecurity misconfigurations highlights improper separation of user and administrator privilege as a recurring weakness in large organizations. Excessive privileges turn a single phished user or compromised server into an environment-wide incident.
Privileged access is also a compliance focus. Least privilege and controlled administrative access appear in ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and the NIST SP 800-53 control catalog, and auditors frequently test admin account reviews as part of an IT general controls audit.
Privileged Access Management Best Practices
1. Discover and Inventory All Privileged Accounts
You can’t protect what you don’t know about. Discover privileged accounts across directories, servers, databases, cloud platforms, network devices, SaaS applications, and CI/CD tools. Include service accounts and hard-coded credentials in scripts and configuration files. Repeat discovery regularly, because new privileged accounts appear constantly.
2. Enforce Least Privilege
Grant users and services only the permissions required for their tasks. Remove local admin rights from standard user workstations, break up broad admin roles into narrower roles, and avoid assigning permissions directly to individuals where groups or roles can be managed centrally.
3. Separate Admin and Everyday Accounts
Administrators should use a standard account for email and web browsing and a separate privileged account for administrative work. This prevents a phishing email or malicious website from immediately compromising admin credentials.
4. Eliminate Standing Privilege With Just-in-Time Access
Standing administrative access is always available to an attacker who compromises the account. Just-in-time (JIT) access grants elevated rights only when needed, for a limited time, often with approval. When the window closes, privileges are removed automatically.
5. Require Phishing-Resistant MFA for All Privileged Access
Every privileged login should require strong, ideally phishing-resistant, MFA such as FIDO2 security keys. See our article on why MFA is no longer optional for method comparisons.
6. Vault and Rotate Credentials
Store privileged passwords, keys, and secrets in a secure vault rather than spreadsheets or scripts. Rotate them automatically, ideally after each use for highly sensitive accounts. Use unique local administrator passwords on every endpoint, managed by tools such as Microsoft’s Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS), so one compromised machine doesn’t unlock all of them.
7. Use Secure Administrative Workstations
Perform administration from hardened, dedicated devices or privileged access workstations that aren’t used for email or general browsing. This protects admin sessions from malware on everyday endpoints.
8. Broker and Record Privileged Sessions
Route privileged access through a PAM gateway or bastion that brokers connections without revealing credentials to users, and records sessions for high-risk systems. Recordings support investigations, deter misuse, and provide audit evidence.
9. Control Service Accounts and Machine Identities
Service accounts are frequently over-privileged, never rotated, and unmonitored. Assign owners, restrict where they can log in from, disable interactive logon where possible, use managed service accounts or workload identities, and keep secrets in a secrets manager rather than code.
10. Secure Third-Party Privileged Access
Vendors and managed service providers should never have always-on admin access. Use time-bound, approved, MFA-protected sessions through a PAM gateway, with recording and automatic expiry.
11. Protect Break-Glass Accounts
Emergency accounts are necessary but dangerous. Keep them few, store credentials securely with strict access, exclude them from routine use, and alert on every use.
12. Monitor Privileged Activity and Detect Abuse
Send privileged activity logs to your SIEM and monitor for unusual behavior: changes to admin groups, new privileged accounts, logins outside approved channels, and use of privileges at unusual times. Identity threat detection and response capabilities are designed for exactly this.
13. Review Privileged Access Regularly
Run access certifications at least quarterly for privileged roles. Remove access for leavers and role changes promptly, and investigate privileged accounts that haven’t been used recently.
14. Tier Your Administration Model
Separate administration of the most critical assets, such as identity infrastructure, from administration of servers and workstations. Accounts that administer workstations should never be able to log on to domain controllers. Tiering limits how far credential theft can spread.
PAM Maturity Model
| Level | Characteristics | Next Step |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ad hoc | Shared admin passwords, no inventory, broad standing access | Discover accounts and enforce MFA on admins |
| 2. Foundational | Inventory exists, separate admin accounts, credentials vaulted | Automate rotation, broker sessions |
| 3. Managed | Session brokering and recording, regular access reviews, LAPS on endpoints | Introduce just-in-time access and tiering |
| 4. Advanced | Just-in-time access, tiered admin model, service account governance | Integrate identity threat detection and automated response |
| 5. Optimized | Zero standing privilege, continuous monitoring, automated response, machine identity governance | Continuous improvement and testing |
Implementation Roadmap
- Weeks 1 to 4: discover privileged accounts, enforce MFA on all admin access, and secure cloud root and global admin accounts.
- Months 2 to 3: separate admin and user accounts, remove unnecessary local admin rights, deploy unique local admin passwords.
- Months 3 to 6: vault credentials, automate rotation, broker and record sessions for critical systems, and lock down vendor access.
- Months 6 to 12: introduce just-in-time access, tiered administration, and service account governance.
- Ongoing: access reviews, monitoring, and testing through red team assessments to confirm privileged paths are actually closed.
Common PAM Mistakes
- Buying a vault and stopping there. Vaulting without least privilege, JIT, and monitoring leaves most risk in place.
- Exempting service accounts because changing them seems risky.
- Allowing workarounds, such as admins saving vaulted passwords locally or bypassing the gateway.
- Ignoring cloud and SaaS admin roles while focusing only on on-premises servers.
- No break-glass testing, leading to lockouts during real emergencies.
- Weak MFA for admins, such as SMS codes for global administrators.
Privileged access is a core pillar of Zero Trust. Our guide to Zero Trust for cloud environments shows how PAM fits alongside identity, device, and workload controls, and Securis360’s security engineering team can help design and deploy PAM architecture.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between IAM and PAM?
IAM manages identities and access for all users. PAM is a specialized subset focused on accounts with elevated privileges, adding controls such as vaulting, session brokering, recording, and just-in-time elevation.
What is just-in-time privileged access?
It grants elevated permissions only when needed for a specific task and time window, often with approval, then removes them automatically. This reduces the time privileged access is available to attackers.
Why should administrators have separate accounts?
Using a separate admin account prevents everyday activities like reading email or browsing the web from exposing privileged credentials to phishing or malware.
How often should privileged access be reviewed?
At least quarterly for privileged roles, and immediately when people change roles or leave the organization.
Do small organizations need PAM?
Yes, though the implementation can be simpler. Separate admin accounts, MFA, unique local admin passwords, a password vault, and regular access reviews deliver most of the benefit without an enterprise platform.
Key Takeaways
- Attackers prioritize privileged access because it unlocks everything else.
- Discover all privileged accounts, enforce least privilege, and separate admin from daily use.
- Move toward just-in-time access and zero standing privilege.
- Vaulting, session brokering, monitoring, and regular reviews make PAM effective.