What is privileged access management?

What is a privileged account?

So, what exactly makes an account “privileged”? Simply put, it’s any account with more permissions and access than a standard user. Because of the power they hold and the significant risks of perpetual privileged access, managing these accounts is a top security priority. While it’s easy to think of just one type of "superadmin," these accounts come in many different forms, each with a specific job.

At the very top, you have superuser accounts (e.g., root on Linux or Administrator on Windows) with virtually unrestricted access to files, settings, and resources. Similarly, domain administrator accounts hold the highest level of control across the entire network, able to manage all workstations, servers, and even other admin accounts. 

Then come local administrator accounts that grant full control over a particular server or workstation's resources, including its files, folders, and user permissions. Meanwhile, application administrator accounts manage specific software and the data stored within it.

But privileged access isn't just for system administrators. There are also business privileged user accounts, which grant high-level access based on a person’s job role, like someone in finance or HR. And for worst-case scenarios, there are emergency accounts, sometimes called “break-glass” accounts, that provide temporary admin access during a disaster and are highly privileged.

The key is to recognize that all these different accounts hold the keys to sensitive parts of your organization. Learning how to effectively manage privileged accounts is vital for your organization's security posture.

The core principles of PAM

Effective privileged access management is built on several foundational principles that work together to minimize risk. Think of them as the pillars that support your entire access management framework.

The first and most important pillar is the principle of least privilege (PoLP). As the cornerstone of any strong security strategy, it dictates that users and systems should only be given the absolute minimum level of access needed to do their jobs. This simple rule drastically limits the potential damage if an account is ever compromised.

Building on that idea is just-in-time (JIT) access, which eliminates the need for users to have powerful permissions 24/7. Instead of granting standing privileges, JIT provides elevated access on demand for a specific task and limited time, automatically revoking it once the job is done.

The final piece of the puzzle is continuous monitoring and auditing. This is where privileged session management (PSM) comes into play—a practice that involves actively monitoring, recording, and controlling all activity during privileged sessions. This can include detailed auditing tools that capture keystrokes and screen recordings, allowing security teams to watch sessions live or play them back later. By covering every instance where elevated access is granted, PSM creates a clear audit trail that holds users accountable and allows for rapid investigation of any suspicious behavior.

Why is privileged access management important?

Adopting a privileged access management solution is more than just a technical upgrade; it's a strategic business decision. A strong privileged access management framework is essential for managing privileged access, helping you to effectively control privileged accounts, build a more resilient security foundation, and streamline compliance. Let’s look at this question more thoroughly in the following sections.

Mitigate cyber risks

A privileged access management solution is a critical control point for mitigating security risks from both internal and external threats. It prevents any unauthorized party from gaining the elevated access needed to cause widespread damage. In the case of a data breach, for example, this means that even if an attacker gets an initial foothold on your network, PAM prevents them from moving laterally to access your databases and steal sensitive information.

For ransomware attacks, which rely on high-level accounts to encrypt critical servers and backups, privileged access management is an especially powerful defense. Enforcing the principle of least privilege starves the malware of the access it needs to spread, effectively neutralizing its ability to cause a company-wide disaster.

Finally, these same controls help manage insider threats. By ensuring employees only have access to the data and systems required for their jobs, PAM significantly reduces the risk of both accidental data exposure and intentional harm from within.

Achieve regulatory compliance

Many regulations, such as SOX, HIPAA, and PCI DSS, require organizations to not only secure and protect their data but also to be able to prove the effectiveness of those security measures. Detailed session logs and audit trails from a privileged access management solution provide the concrete evidence needed to satisfy auditors and maintain compliance.

Improve operational efficiency

For IT teams, manually managing privileged credentials across dozens of systems is a time-consuming and error-prone nightmare. PAM solutions automate these burdensome tasks, ensuring secure access across your organization. These solutions provide a centralized platform for password management that allows IT teams to automatically rotate credentials, enforce policies, and streamline the entire lifecycle of granting and revoking permissions.

PAM and other security solutions

The cybersecurity world is full of acronyms, such as IAM, PAM, and PIM, and it can be tough to keep them all straight. Let's clear up the confusion by looking at each separately.

First is the broadest category: identity and access management (IAM). Think of IAM as the foundation of your organization's entire digital identity strategy, designed to manage the rights of every user. Its main goal is to answer the basic question: "Is this the right person, and are they allowed to use this resource?"

While IAM provides the wide-angle view, privileged access management and privileged identity management (PIM) offer a closer look at your highest-risk accounts. Although closely related, they have different focuses.

The focus of privileged identity management is the user identity itself. It manages privileged user accounts and their underlying permissions, securing the entire lifecycle of the account. Privileged access management, on the other hand, focuses on controlling and monitoring access to critical resources. Its primary role is to secure the actual connection to sensitive systems and data.

In other words, PIM secures the identity (the "who"), while PAM secures the access and monitors the activity (the "what" and "how"). A comprehensive privileged access management strategy will include PIM capabilities to provide complete control over the entire privileged access journey.

Key features of PAM software

When evaluating different privileged access management tools, it can be hard to know what to look for. A truly effective solution should offer a comprehensive set of features designed to secure every aspect of privileged user access. Here are the core capabilities that should be non-negotiable:

• Secure vaulting and password management. The centralized password vault acts as a digital safe for all your privileged credentials.

• Session management and monitoring. This feature allows your security team to monitor, record, and even terminate suspicious sessions in real time. Having a detailed, unalterable record of all actions is not only crucial for accountability but also provides an invaluable resource for forensic investigations if an incident occurs.

• Access control and elevation. To effectively enforce the principle of least privilege, a privileged access management solution must provide granular access control and elevation. This allows users to operate with standard, non-privileged accounts for their daily work and request temporary, elevated permissions only when needed for a specific task.

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA). Having MFA enforced ensures that even if a privileged password is somehow stolen, the account remains secure, as the attacker cannot provide the necessary second factor of authentication.

Best practices for implementing PAM

A successful PAM implementation is more than just technology; it requires a thoughtful strategy guided by a clear set of privileged access management best practices. This means combining the right tools, processes, and people to protect your most critical assets.

1. Implement least privilege access and a zero trust model. Start by discovering and cataloging every privileged account across your entire company. Then, adopt a zero trust mindset of "never trust, always verify," and strip back all permissions to the absolute minimum required for each role.

2. Use strong authentication. Once you've limited what users can access, the next step is to secure how they access it. As mentioned above, every single privileged account, without exception, must be protected by MFA.

3. Monitor and audit everything. Use your PAM solution's session management features to log, record, and review privileged sessions. This not only holds users accountable for their actions but also provides an invaluable audit trail for compliance and allows your security team to quickly detect and investigate any suspicious behavior.

4. Control the credentials lifecycle. Ensure that each privileged account has a unique and strong password that’s stored in an encrypted vault. A PAM solution should also allow you to set password policies that all team members should follow.

5. Educate and empower your users. It's essential to educate all employees with privileged access on the importance of these security controls and their responsibilities in protecting the organization. Understanding the "why" behind the policies helps your team members become active partners in security rather than seeing it as a roadblock.

How NordPass can help organizations stay safe

NordPass can be one of the tools that can help build your privileged access management suite and address the significant security risks that privileged accounts pose. It allows you to solve credential management challenges quickly and efficiently. With NordPass, you can:

• Secure, share, and manage all credentials in an encrypted vault. NordPass is currently the only password manager using the XChaCha20 encryption algorithm.

• Manage access rights for individuals and groups, specify access levels from viewing to editing account information.

• Set company-wide password rules, and make them easy for employees to follow by offering a way to generate, store, and manage strong passwords in line with set policies.

• Strengthen authentication across the board by requiring multi-factor authentication (MFA) and integrating with your existing single sign-on (SSO) providers.

• Monitor login activity in real time with detailed audit logs and event history with Activity Log that gives you the clarity you need to support compliance and incident response.

To learn how you can build a stronger foundation for your security, explore NordPass for Business or discover the advanced capabilities of NordPass for Enterprise today.