Due to traditional Identity Access Management (IAM) solutions' inability to tightly control, manage, and report on user access to remote servers, databases, network hardware, and critical applications, the idea of privileged identity management first emerged in the middle of the 2000s.
Users manage, regulate, and keep track of the access rights that individuals have to important resources inside an organization thanks to privileged identity management (PIM). Important files, user accounts, documentation, even application code, and infrastructure components like databases and security systems are among them. Using PIM, you can keep track of all your privileged identities (PIs) and find privileged accounts.
Hackers may be able to steal up to 90% of records through breaches caused by flaws in web applications. As a result, safeguarding privileged credentials is critical to their security. An improper set of credentials might allow a hacker or burglar to destroy crucial systems, steal confidential data, or vandalize your infrastructure. This is very important when there are several users at the same time, as is the case with sparse mode routing (SM routing), which sends information to several users at the same time. The same holds for businesses that utilize virtual private networks (VPNs). Without good access controls, you won't be able to decide who can use the VPN on your network.
In this article, you will find detailed answers to the following questions and topics:
What is Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?
How does PIM work?
Why is Privileged Identity Management important for an Organization?
What are the benefits of Privileged Identity Management?
How to Implement a Privileged Identity Management Within an Enterprise?
PIM vs. PAM vs. IAM. Are they the same?
What are the best Practices for Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?
What are the top PIM solutions?
A Brief History of Privileged Identity Management
What is Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?
Managing highly privileged access requires a specific security solution, which is called "privileged identity management". The goal of privileged identity management, a type of information security and management system, is to help companies meet regulatory requirements and prevent system and data breaches caused by privileged accounts being used inappropriately.
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is the process of monitoring, controlling, and safeguarding superuser accounts inside an organization's IT infrastructures. Superuser accounts, which have historically been relatively poorly maintained, include those for CEOs (Chief Executive Officer), CIOs (Chief Information Officers), and database administrators (DBAs).
A superuser account means that the user has access to all applications and can change or end any system process. Particularly for someone working on one of the company's equipment, there is a lot of power right there. Monitoring is crucial to preventing the misuse or abuse of these kinds of accounts. Unchecked superuser accounts can let viruses in, cause data to be lost or stolen, and cause important company information to be lost. To protect the networks of your business from misuse, it is crucial to properly monitor and keep an eye on these accounts using PIM methods and systems.
The main purpose of privileged identity solutions is to give IT administrators safe control over access to important IT resources that are not covered by standard IAM solutions. Administrators can grant user accounts specific abilities, such as the ability to write data, create accounts, or perform tasks, to name a few.
PIM systems offer a number of extra security measures to keep privileged accounts safe, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), Secure Shell (SSH) keys, and other similar measures. Without PIM solutions, it was either impossible to secure user access to vital resources or it had to be done manually.
How Does PIM Work?
How do privileged identity management (PIM) technologies function specifically? What features do they provide for identity management and cybersecurity techniques for businesses? Why should your company use them?
Users and superusers are the two basic categories into which we can divide the user base of every organization. Only the data relevant to their roles inside the organization should be accessible to them (preferably under identity management). The latter's permissions, however, go far, far beyond that restriction. People with privileges could, for example, get access to important information, change workflows, get more rights, or even destroy the network.
Privileged credentials are the most often targeted by hackers for the same reason; in their hands, privileged accounts might enable hackers to carry out significant financial crimes or steal sensitive data. Also, if someone uses their login information in a bad way, they could become a serious insider threat. Thankfully, privileged identity management systems help limit the objectives of hackers. How? Read on.
Privilege Restrictions (And Privileged Users): Not every manager should or can have privileged access; the smaller your enterprise's potential attack surface, the fewer accounts with extended rights there are. Also, even if a hacker gets into the wrong hands, they won't be able to do much damage if they only have access to a small number of resources. Therefore, the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) is enforced across all users using privileged identity management technologies. Users should only have the permissions necessary for them to carry out their tasks, according to this concept, which applies to the most powerful users on your network.
PIM solutions assist businesses in increasing their visibility over their users as part of this enforcement. Any cybersecurity policy and identity management strategy must prioritize visibility; otherwise, you have little chance of protecting what is hidden from your view.
Any new superuser accounts must define their rights and the justification for accepting them, as required by privileged identity management. This prevents any new account from escaping your cybersecurity standards. Additionally, superuser accounts that have previously escaped your IT staff might be discovered with the use of privilege monitoring. As a result, it can aid in preventing the growth of orphaned accounts.
Privileged identity management technologies keep an eye out for upgrades, changes, and other changes to your IT infrastructure. This keeps unauthorized people from making changes that could put your data or operations at risk.
Strengthened Authentication: The inadequacy of passwords is a recurring issue in cybersecurity, specifically identity management. Unfortunately, in the age of digital risks, passwords are no longer enough to protect either people or databases. Hackers can guess passwords or use simple tools to break them too easily. Weak passwords like "123456" make this even easier. If this is the case, threat actors always use social media to their advantage, basing their assumptions on publicly available information or phishing the data. In other words, single-factor authentication offers about the same level of security as an open door with a sign that reads "No Entry." Fortunately, privileged identity management technologies offer more complex authentication options, which often come in the form of multifactor authentication (MFA) features.MFA is based on the straightforward but powerful tenet that the more barriers there are between an access request and the data, the trickier it is to hack. Passwords may still be used with these capabilities, but they additionally include:
- Biometric Authentication
- SMS Messaging
- Time of Access Request Monitoring
- Behavioral Biometrics (including typing behaviors)
- Location Monitoring (Geofencing)
- Device Recognition
In addition, a lot of multifactor authentication factors function in the background, activating only if they notice a mismatch, so they don't interfere with work processes or logins.
Protecting Users But Not Just Users: You don't need users to be actual people for your network to be in trouble. Tools for managing privileged identities in the modern, next-generation era now take into account the fact that non-human entities might have their own permissions.
Data can be moved, the network can be altered, and other things can be done by devices, apps, databases, and other programs. Hackers could easily take advantage of these security holes if they weren't monitored and limited enough, which is what PIM systems do. Furthermore, these limitations prevent malicious software from running unchecked.
You should think about third parties. Vendors and partners, for example, may have access to privileged accounts on your network. These accounts may be used as a stepping stone by hackers if privileged identity management isn't in place.
Tools for managing privileged identities prevent outsiders and artificial identities from transgressing the principle of least privilege.
Session Observation and the Privilege Vault: The session monitoring recordings that are offered by next-generation privileged access management technologies are categorized into searchable information for incident response operations. Furthermore, to automatically identify and stop suspect privileged sessions, session monitoring capabilities can take advantage of user behavior analytics. During incident response, your team may evaluate a distinct sequence of events and follow the trail. Additionally, PIM tools compile all privileged accounts into a single vault. This centralizes administration efforts and secures credentials throughout the network.
Why is Privileged Identity Management Important for an Organization?
There are four main reasons why PIM must be an essential component of an organization's security profile, especially for SMBs, which are progressively turning into hotbeds for cybercrime. The following four factors:
PIM assists in preventing potential hackers from infiltrating networks and initiating large-scale attacks, particularly ones that last for extended periods. According to IBM research, it takes an average of 197 days to discover a data breach, and an additional 69 days to contain and clean it up.
The link between customer identification and access management (CIAM) portals and customer relationship management (CRM) systems is governed and protected by PIM. For years, hackers have been spying on and stealing privileged credentials by exploiting holes in this integration.
PIM assists in preventing hackers from obtaining privileged database credentials, which might be disastrous. Just ask Equifax, which was the target of a massive cyberattack in 2017 that exposed the private data of more than 150 million customers worldwide. An updated report from the U.S. Government's Accountability Office claims (GAO), the situation was so chaotic that Equifax's IT personnel had to execute the hacker's own database queries over and over again for weeks simply to figure out what had been taken.
PIM secures and safeguards cloud and containerized systems, which need administrator keys to operate and transfer data. Products like Azure AD, which offers bespoke role assignments, help achieve this goal.
What are the Benefits of Privileged Identity Management?
The top benefits of implementing a privileged identity management solution are as follows:
Total control and visibility: You can take control of your privileged accounts and identities by putting them in a digital vault that is encrypted and protected by multiple factors of authentication.
Increased security: Get rid of all sources of danger to fight the rising risks of attacks from the outside, identity theft, and threats from within.
Incident reaction that is data-driven: Use real-time audits of user activity and detailed reports to enforce security controls that find and stop suspicious user behavior and misuse of privileged accounts.
Taking standing privileges away: Standing privileges, such as orphaned or inactive accounts, are a threat that needs to be removed. This can be done by finding and deleting them. For granular credential sharing, provide role-based access controls and approval procedures.
Complete adherence to industry rules: Obey all laws, rules, and regulations, including HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, NERC-CIP, SOX, and others.
How to Implement a Privileged Identity Management Within an Enterprise?
To put privileged identity management into practice you may follow the next steps:
Make a policy outlining the management of super user accounts and the permissible and prohibited actions for account holders.
Create a management structure that identifies the person who is accountable for ensuring that the aforementioned procedures are followed.
Inventory the population of privileged accounts to ascertain their size and to identify them.
Create management tools and procedures, such as provisioning software or specific PIM applications.
PIM vs. PAM vs. IAM Are the same?
PIM and PAM are both parts of identity and access management (IAM), which is a broader term for keeping track of, protecting, and keeping an eye on the identities of an organization. PAM and PIM, however, serve a crucial role in managing and safeguarding privileged identities. Let's define each of these terms to better grasp the distinction:
IAM: IAM is a security framework made up of unique rules, measures, and approaches that make it easier to manage digital organizational identities. IAM is a method that IT administrators use to control who can get into their company's databases, assets, networks, applications, and other resources.
PAM: Creating an access control framework to safeguard, manage, watch over, and regulate privileged access channels and activities across the company is the focus of PAM, a type of IAM.
PIM: PIM is a subclass of PAM that offers important security controls and policies to manage and protect privileged identities, which give access to sensitive information. Service accounts, usernames, passwords, SSH keys, digital certificates, and other similar things are all types of privileged identities.
To put it into perspective, IAM includes all users, systems, resources, and assets and addresses the wider access patterns across all corporate verticals. On the other hand, PIM and PAM deal with how privileged systems and resources can be accessed.
What are the Best Practices for Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?
Mismanagement of access to privileged accounts, or failure to manage them at all, which is a sin committed by a startling 65% of firms, may result in anything from security lapses and legal repercussions to consumer backlash and irreparable reputational harm. According to research by the National Cyber Security Alliance, 60% of SMBs close their doors within six months following a cyber attack. In other situations, it can even result in extinction.
As a result, developing, implementing, and maintaining a strong PIM system is not an option. It must be a top priority for businesses of all sizes; otherwise, it may not be a question of if but rather of when they will come under assault and how severe it will be. Gartner and Centrify have partnered together to highlight best practices for developing an extensive PIM system to help security and risk management professionals. These best practices for deploying a successful PIM are as follows:
To make sure that access is appropriate, in line with acceptable risk levels, and conforms with regulatory requirements, identify and assess all privileged accounts and end users.
Make sure that access to privileged accounts adheres to the principle of least privilege (POLP), which grants end users just the access necessary for them to do their tasks.
Maintain rigorous rules for sharing credentials and continuously monitor all privileged account activity.
Utilize appropriate PIM/PAM tools and technologies, and use high-trust authentication techniques for privileged access. Devolutions is one of a small group of providers that Gartner researchers have identified as successfully supplying an alternate method to reduce the risks associated with privileged access, or as offering a set of specialized and in-depth capabilities to supplement current PAM deployment.
To satisfy continuous regulatory requirements, enhance and expand privileged identity management with access governance restrictions (e.g. requiring account owners to certify that they still require privileged access after a period of time).
PIM is a great way to avoid situations of too much privilege because it makes it less likely that an attacker will be able to get privileged access. However, efficient segregation of duties (SoD) must also be taken into account to prevent allowing some users to wear "too many hats" at work, which might expose the company to a variety of hazards. Hackers have access to all of these users' accounts if just one of them is hacked. In a similar way, when multiple people share responsibilities, it's likely that privileged access to the systems will be revealed if one of them is hacked.
What are the Top PIM Solutions?
If you're looking for a reputable PIM software supplier, we've put together a list of some of your top choices. See our list of the best PIM vendors:
Jasper: Your go-to PIM supplier is Jasper PIM, which has a good ten years of experience in the PIM industry. The company has agreements with well-known eCommerce companies (Magento, Shopify Plus, and BigCommerce, to name a few). You may select from 4 versions based on the size of your business and your growth goals. Each solution may be completely tailored to fit the specific requirements of your company.
Akeneo: With a unified center for product information management, Akeneo helps merchants of all sizes with worldwide goals accelerate their growth. Retailers are now able to provide customers with cutting-edge online experiences across all potential points of sale because of their secure, simple-to-implement PIM software. Additionally, Akeneo provides specialized PIM solutions for active shops.
InRiver: InRiver is based in Sweden and provides services to 400 clients and more than 1,000 brands across four continents. InRiver provides the ideal solutions for every organization operating in the omnichannel market, whether you're looking to cut expenses, boost brand equity, or just get a competitive advantage with a powerful PIM tool.
Salsify: Have you ever wondered who collaborates with Coca-Cola, L'Oreal, Bosch, and Rawlings? To achieve the best client acquisition and retention on a worldwide basis, Salsify can assist you in developing an excellent PIM. Choose Salsify if your goal is to go digital in the next years or if you want to take the next steps toward creating the best possible digital presence for your company.
Syndigo Experience Content Hub: Around 10,000 brands and 1,500 merchants are linked through the Syndigo Content Experience Hub, which offers a one-of-a-kind, distinctive shopping experience based on cutting-edge PIM technology. With the use of top syndication, analytics, and verified product management, online retailers may improve the management of their product information by adding "deep nutritional data."
Catsy: Have you ever questioned how companies like Cisco or Whirlpool can function so well online? Over the past several years, Catsy has established a solid name in the PIM sector and offers companies the ability to manage their product data effectively with improved web performance for a positive customer experience across all online points of sale.
Pimcore: Pimcore is a centralized platform that integrates online content management, digital assets, and product information. Pimcore is excellent for businesses with rapid development since it provides cutting-edge real-time sync between physical and internet storefronts. Pimcore encourages flexible data modeling and user-friendly data management accessible to active online markets with such a "reliable" source of information.
Propel: Salesforce serves as the foundation for Propel's Cloud Software Enterprise, which integrates PLM, PIM, and QMS applications. For shops willing to delve deeper into eCommerce, they provide transparent and high-performance product lifecycle management. The solutions are simple to use and enable rapid expansion for any online retailer.
Contentserv: In the PIM sector, Contentserv and Product Sup has earned a well-deserved stellar reputation. They provide the best SAAS platform that genuinely benefits busy online international markets. Retailers can now handle a lot more data than in the past because of Product Sup's top-notch content syndication throughout the online points of sale.
SalesLayer: With the help of SalesLayer, you can integrate the top cloud-based PIM services. With SalesLayer, PIM is made simple while allowing you to organize, gather, and manage all product data in various ways. With the help of a pioneer in the field, learn about the future evolution of PIM.
Plytix: Do you want to amplify your omnichannel global eCommerce business? For shops that want to provide their consumers with a distinctive experience, check out Plytix and their simple-to-implement, scalable PIM solutions. With such a great PIM supplier, navigating the digital and online retail world is simple, affordable, and supported by excellent customer service.
Figure 1. Top PIM Solutions
A Brief History of Privileged Identity Management
Due to typical IAM systems' inability to closely regulate, manage and report on user access to distant servers, databases, network hardware, and important applications, the idea of privileged identity management first developed in the middle of the 2000s. The majority of crucial resources inside an IT business were on-prem and ran on the Windows Operating System (OS) before PIM solutions were necessary.
Due to Windows OS's dominance, IT administrators were able to efficiently administer their whole network from a single, centralized place on-prem using legacy technology, particularly Active Directory. However, with the advent of cloud servers, virtual databases, remote network equipment, and online applications, to mention a few, everything changed in the early 2000s.
Active Directory was created with on-premises networks with Windows-based IT resources in mind. As a result, it was challenging to directly manage new technologies that were neither Windows-based nor on-prem using AD alone.
IT departments still required a mechanism to manage user access to vital resources like the ones mentioned before, ideally from a single central place. This problem created an opportunity for supplementary programs like Privileged Identity Management, which might extend established identities to previously unsupported IT systems.
PIM solutions continue to play a crucial role in the infrastructure of conventional, on-premise identity management. IT administrators are seeking next-generation identity management solutions that don't necessitate a significant investment in on-premise equipment and add-ons as more of this old IT infrastructure migrates to the cloud. How, therefore, can you continue to make use of privileged identity management without using an established identity provider or anything on-premises? Simple: pick a complete cloud-based directory services platform with PIM capabilities as its primary offering.
