What is Privileged Access Management (PAM) ?

Privileged Access Management (PAM) is an information security (infosec) process that uses special access or capabilities (beyond the scope of regular users) to protect identities. Like any infosec solution, PAM works across a combination of people, systems, and technology.

Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a set of practices and technologies designed to manage and secure privileged accounts within an organization. Privileged accounts typically have elevated permissions and access privileges, allowing users to perform critical administrative tasks, access sensitive data, and make significant changes to systems and infrastructure.

The main objectives of PAM include:

  1. Privileged Account Discovery: Identifying and cataloging all privileged accounts within an organization’s environment, including administrative and service accounts.
  2. Privileged Account Protection: Implementing security controls such as strong password policies, multi-factor authentication (MFA), session monitoring, and session recording to safeguard privileged accounts from unauthorized access and misuse.
  3. Privileged Session Management: Controlling and monitoring privileged sessions in real-time to prevent unauthorized activities, detect anomalies, and provide detailed audit trails.
  4. Just-In-Time Privilege Elevation: Granting temporary, time-limited access to privileged accounts on-demand, reducing the attack surface by limiting exposure and preventing continuous access.
  5. Privileged Access Analytics: Leveraging advanced analytics and behavioral monitoring to detect suspicious activities, anomalous behaviors, and potential security threats associated with privileged accounts.
  6. Privileged Access Governance: Implementing policies, procedures, and workflows to manage the lifecycle of privileged accounts, including provisioning, deprovisioning, and periodic access reviews.

Apono as a Cloud PAM Solution:

Apono is a leading provider of Cloud PAM solutions, offering comprehensive and advanced capabilities for managing privileged access in cloud environments. Apono’s Cloud PAM solution addresses the unique challenges of securing privileged accounts and access in cloud-based infrastructures, providing organizations with enhanced security, compliance, and operational efficiency.

Key features of Apono’s Cloud PAM solution include:

  1. Privileged Account Discovery: Apono helps organizations identify and manage privileged accounts across cloud platforms, ensuring comprehensive coverage and visibility.
  2. Just-In-Time Privilege Elevation: Apono enables organizations to implement just-in-time access controls, granting temporary, limited privileged access when needed, minimizing the attack surface and reducing the risk of continuous access.
  3. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Apono supports robust authentication mechanisms, including multi-factor authentication, to strengthen the security of privileged accounts and prevent unauthorized access.
  4. Automated Workflows and Provisioning: Apono automates the provisioning and deprovisioning of privileged access, streamlining processes and reducing manual effort.
  5. Auditing and Compliance: Apono offers detailed audit logs, reports, and compliance dashboards, facilitating regulatory compliance efforts and providing organizations with the necessary evidence for security audits.

By leveraging Apono’s Cloud PAM solution, organizations can effectively manage and secure privileged access in cloud environments, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive data, preventing unauthorized access, and maintaining compliance with industry regulations.

Unlike legacy PAM providers, Apono takes a unique approach by offering an API-based solution that doesn’t act as a proxy for your data. This distinction allows for seamless and rapid deployment, granting organizations the ability to implement Apono’s Cloud PAM solution within minutes.

Apono’s API-based approach provides comprehensive access visibility to all privileged resources, not just the ones that pass through a proxy. This means that organizations can have a complete overview of privileged access across their cloud environment, enabling better monitoring and control.

Furthermore, Apono’s solution doesn’t disrupt the way end users work with different privileged resources. It seamlessly integrates into existing workflows and tools without requiring major changes or impacting user productivity. This approach ensures a smooth transition to enhanced privileged access management without causing disruptions or retraining for end users.

By leveraging Apono’s API-based Cloud PAM solution, organizations can enjoy the benefits of rapid deployment, complete access visibility, and a non-disruptive implementation that aligns with their existing workflows, ultimately enhancing security and operational efficiency in managing privileged access.

Just-in-time access permission management

FAQs

  • What is Privileged Access Management (PAM)?

    Privileged access management (PAM) is the blend of tools and technology which manage, secure, and monitor access to an organization’s sensitive information and resources.

  • What problems does Privileged Access Management (PAM) solve?

    PAM aims to reduce loopholes for fraudulent users to gain illegal access while increasing your awareness and control of the environment. PAM makes it difficult for hackers to access a secured network and its confidential accounts.

  • What does a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution do?

    PAM tools assist organizations in securing privilege access to critical resources and meeting compliance procedures by setting up systems for monitoring and managing access to confidential accounts.

  • What is the difference between PAM and IAM?

    IAM identifies and authorizes users across the whole organization, while PAM is a subset of IAM, with a special focus on privileged users —who require permission to access extremely sensitive data.

  • What is PAM in Active Directory?

    MIM Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a way to confine privileged access within an organization’s existing and isolated Active Directory environment.

  • What is PAM vs PIM?

    Many individuals are considering Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Privileged Identity Management (PIM) as practical solution for gaining access to corporate infrastructure. Both ways have similar functionality, but they vary in their usage.

  • What is a Privileged Access Management (PAM) tool?

    Five key elements to secure privileged access in an organization are:
    – Implement a robust privileged account discovery process.
    – Form a privileged account password policy.
    – Implement principles of least privilege
    – Select the proper solution
    -Use analytics for accounts supervision