Secure Privileged Accounts With PIM Solutions

IT analysts often describe Privileged ID's as "keys to the kingdom". It is an apt description as privileged accounts have the highest access levels to make certain changes to data, applications and infrastructures. What adds to the risk is that many enterprises have not implemented measures to mitigate and monitor the risk posed by privileged ID's. Only limited individuals know the passwords for these id's which at times results in a false sense of assurance for the enterprises. These trusted IT administrators have a record of serving their companies for long. When a separation takes place the organization often struggles to cut off the access of these administrators.

In addition to the risk of privileged identity management (PIM) are the powerful service accounts or the "application accounts". These ID's are generally configured and created for applications to access processes, data and resources and need elevated privileges. There have been situations where the service accounts have been granted more access than required t6.

Keeping in mind security concerns, service accounts need to adhere to the principle of least privilege. This means that the access is to be restricted to the minimum amount of infrastructure, application, and data needed to complete any intended purpose. When the service accounts have extra privileges, then the amount of damage often increases in terms of security breaches and data thefts. Unfortunately not every enterprise has a systematic privileged ID management solution that is well-orchestrated and centralized. In order to aid this, service providers specializing in risk management frameworks have introduced privileged identity management solutions with the following features:

Planning Services

• Executive Workshop and Business Requirement Analysis
• PIM Strategy and Roadmap
• Best fit solution identification
• Proof of Concepts

Implementation Services

• User Life Cycle Management
• Shared ID Management
• Session Management
• Access Brokers and Single Sign On
• Activity Monitoring(SIEM)

Sustenance Services

• PIM Health Check
• Post Implementation Support
• Enhancements
• Change Requests
• Performance Optimization

Therefore, an organized privileged identity management solution helps the organization by providing a secure and simple way to use precautionary measures than just depending on the administrators. PIM belongs to the domain of Identity and Access Management that focuses on the specific requirements of powerful accounts in an organization with the IT infrastructure. It involves provisioning and user account life cycle management, auditing, password vault and identity access management. It is also used for managing administrative activities in crucial environments such as production servers, network devices, applications and essential databases.

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