What is Privileged Access Management (PAM)?

Transcript:

IT security professionals implement privileged access management, also called PAM, to secure, control, and monitor access to privileged accounts, workstations, and servers, across an IT environment.
Privileged accounts are accounts that have elevated permissions, such as administrator accounts. When correctly implemented, privileged access management ensures that users have only as much access to sensitive data as they need, only when they need it.

PAM controls who can use these accounts to perform critical tasks, such as installing software, making changes to system settings, or accessing sensitive data. To get started, it's necessary to devise a PAM strategy that is suitable for your industry, then acquire the technologies and software required to implement it.

Any organization can get started with privileged access management by implementing these best practices:
1. Increase awareness and empower employees
2. Write a formal policy for privileged accounts to ensure accountability
3. Change default IDs and passwords for any built-in privileged accounts
4. Scan your network using a privileged account discovery tool to locate unknown or unmanaged accounts
5. Use an enterprise-level password vault to secure and manage secrets
6. Limit privileged and unknown applications
7. Control new privileged account creation with a formal review and approval process
8. Actively govern privileged accounts
9. Evaluate your privileged accounts to set appropriate expiration dates

Finally, steer clear of manual methods for PAM. Instead, use software that's designed specifically for privileged access management from a highly-rated PAM vendor.

Chapters:
00:12 - What are privileged accounts?
00:24 - What does PAM control?
00:42 - How to get started with PAM

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