Advanced access and security management are critical in today’s high-risk business environment
Writing in the International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science, Engineering and Information Technology Vinay Vasanth, cybersecurity lead engineer for The Home Depot — a multinational home improvement retailer with more than 460,000 employees and 2023 revenue of US$152 billion — explains how a Privileged Access Management (PAM) strategy can be used to safeguard the digital systems at the heart of a business and significantly improve an organization’s oversight and control of their digital systems by implementing an advanced iteration, Privileged Access Posture Management (PAPM).
PAM is a cybersecurity strategy that protects sensitive data and systems by controlling who can access them. PAM uses people, processes, and technology to monitor and limit access to privileged accounts. The process uses three-factor verification:
- Authentication: Uses strong authentication to verify users’ identities
- Authorization: Controls who can access what resources and systems
- Auditing: Monitors privileged activities to detect unauthorized access
PAM uses uses discovery to identity all privileged accounts, including hidden and inactive ones, credential management to store credentials in a secure vault and rotate them regularly, session monitoring to track user activities during privileged sessions, and just-in-time access to grant users access only when they need it and only for specific tasks.
Privileged Access Posture Management (PAPM) takes enterprise PAM to the next level by including dynamic continuous discovery, real-time risk assessment, and automated remediation workflows. The goal is to address some of the sophisticated threats the modern enterprise faces operating in a global, web-interconnected environment replete with over-provisioning, shadow accounts, and compliance monitoring.
Studies show 61% of data breaches across enterprises involve privileged credential abuse and enterprise organizations experience at least three privileged account-related security incidents annually. This is amplified in the healthcare and financial sectors, where privileged accounts typically comprise 5-7% of all user accounts but are involved in over 80% of security breaches.
With accuracy rates ranging from 84% to 94%, PAPM has been shown to reduce risk in zero-trust (where all users and devices are untrusted by default) by 71%, in cloud security by 67%, cross-platform by 74%, hybrid access by 65%, and multicloud by 69%.
Given the dynamic increase in security breaches, often originating in countries beyond Western governments reach, an investment in PAPM seems prudent for enterprises and the sooner the better.
Top 3 Takeaways
- PAPM augments the protections PAM provides
- Dynamic threats to enterprise data require dynamic solutions
- PAPM offers protection with accuracy rates as high as 94%.
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