Privileged Access Management

Privileged Access Management (PAM) comprises the cyber security strategies and technologies for the management and control of privileged access and rights for users, accounts, processes and systems in an IT environment. 

PAM helps companies to reduce their organisation’s points of attack and to prevent or at least minimise the damage resulting from external attacks as well as misconduct or negligence of insiders. 

Why is a Privileged Access Management solution more important than ever for your business?

Download our free practical guide and discover all the key facts about PAM!

In an IT environment, there is always a trade-off between security and usability. Each added protection increases the technological effort or reduces the ease of use. Paradoxically, however, higher requirements may also increase the risk:

Complex passwords, for example, are more secure than simple passwords. At the same time, they are more difficult for the user to memorise. As a consequence, some users write their passwords down.

Privileged systems (administrator accounts, critical infrastructure) often do not use individualised accounts which means that several people share the accounts and pass on rights to one another. Therefore, companies often do not know exactly who has access to their systems and cannot track who has made which changes. In the event of a security-related incident that needs to be investigated, this will inevitably cause problems.

There are technical solutions for both problem areas. Simple passwords, for example, can be linked to a two-factor authentication. For privileged systems, a PAM system should be used.

As part of Privileged Access Management (PAM), the Password Safe component takes over the central, audit-proof storage and management of privileged access data, regulates their controlled release and ensures that passwords are regularly changed automatically and used in a traceable manner. Thanks to the scanning, identification and assessment of assets and applications, these can be automatically integrated into the PAM system. This ensures that all systems and applications have secure privileged accounts and that no new systems and applications are added under the radar where passwords are not managed securely.

In contrast, a vault is a more broadly applicable solution for storing a wide range of sensitive data - such as API keys, tokens or certificates - that works independently of the classic PAM context and is now used by many organizations for dedicated secrets management.

Privileged Remote Access (PRA) is a specialized solution for secure remote access to critical systems by external service providers or partners - without the complexity of a fully-fledged PAM system. Compared to classic PAM, PRA has a leaner structure, focuses on the essentials and is specially optimized for temporary, controlled access from outside. It offers central functions such as session monitoring, role-based access control and auditing, but deliberately avoids deeper integration into internal user directories or sophisticated password safes. PRA therefore ideally complements an existing PAM system by securing the external perimeter without overloading the internal security mechanisms.

We look forward to assisting you!

You have questions on the subject of IAM. Our experts will be happy to advise you!