With the increasing availability of cloud services and the mass migration of entire company infrastructure to the cloud for greater efficiency and scalability, there are many benefits for everyone. Businesses have been able to collaborate more easily with contractors and third parties around the world, enter new markets faster and easier, and significantly reduce the cost of scaling. On the other hand, many contractors have been able to work remotely, and local markets and consumers have experienced the availability of new services and products that are now global.
However, this has brought risks in the form of vulnerabilities in cloud infrastructures, gaining unwanted privileged access to organizations’ critical systems, and difficulty in tracking incidents. There are many solutions to prevent it, and the key one is Privileged Access Management systems, which help to restrict access to critical systems and track the activity of privileged accounts.
But these solutions are very different with various levels of protection and require extra aspects to be considered when implementing and using them so that they actually perform their functions well.
Today we will talk about what are the most common pitfalls in implementing PAM and why it is important for businesses and their infrastructure, and discuss the best strategies on how to avoid it.
Definition and Importance of PAM in Access Control
Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a critical element in modern access control systems, aimed at securing privileged access to sensitive data and critical systems within an organization’s IT infrastructure. PAM enables organizations to enforce access controls that restrict elevated access to only authorized personnel. Unlike general access management solutions, PAM specifically targets privileged accounts, which hold elevated permissions and thus represent a higher security risk if compromised.
Implementing PAM serves as a proactive defense against cyber threats by ensuring continuous monitoring and role-based access control (RBAC) that limits privileged access based on job functions and automating audit trails, helping organizations maintain a comprehensive approach to security that aligns with compliance standards such as PCI DSS and HIPAA.
Role of Privileged Users and Accounts in an Organization
Privileged users, including system administrators and service account managers, play essential roles in managing critical operations. However, the elevated permissions of privileged accounts also make them prime targets for external threats and insider attacks. Properly managing and monitoring these accounts is essential for maintaining a strong security posture and preventing data breaches. Each access instance should be carefully controlled, with policies that allow emergency access only under defined, monitored conditions to mitigate risks associated with elevated privileges.
Key Components of the PAM Lifecycle
The PAM lifecycle encompasses a continuous process that includes account provisioning, access request management, session monitoring, and audit trails.
- Provisioning. Ensuring that privileged accounts are created and configured based on least privilege principles, limiting access to only what is necessary.
- Monitoring and Access Requests. Ongoing tracking of privileged account activity and processing access requests based on risk and authorization requirements.
- Audit Trails and Reporting. Documenting all privileged access activities to generate transparent, tamper-proof user logs and facilitate compliance reviews.
The Most Common Mistakes Implementing PAM Solution
Lack of Clear Strategy
One of the most significant errors in PAM implementation is failing to define a clear and actionable strategy. Organizations often approach PAM with only short-term objectives, neglecting a holistic strategy that incorporates role-based access and continuous monitoring. Without a clear long-term comprehensive plan, even feature-rich PAM solutions can suffer from inconsistent access controls and untracked privileged account activity, which weakens overall security.
Resistance to Change
Resistance from both IT and non-IT staff can undermine PAM adoption. PAM imposes additional security controls, which may be perceived as restrictive, especially by employees accustomed to broad access privileges. Effective PAM implementation requires stakeholder engagement and user education to align security practices with daily workflows.
Integration Challenges
PAM solutions must seamlessly integrate with existing systems, including legacy applications, cloud services, and IoT environments. Inadequate integration can lead to broken access control, where PAM’s security controls do not cover all points of privileged access. Organizations need to assess their infrastructure comprehensively, identifying potential integration gaps to ensure unified access control across all systems.
Insider Threats
Insiders with access to privileged accounts pose a unique threat due to their knowledge of internal systems. Without proper continuous monitoring and behavioral analytics, organizations may overlook suspicious privileged user activities, increasing the risk of insider-driven data breaches. Implementing a robust audit trail and setting thresholds for elevated permissions help mitigate this risk by alerting administrators to abnormal user behavior.
Regulatory Compliance Issues
PAM compliance requires meticulous documentation, secure audit trails, and strict access control to satisfy regulatory standards. Failing to align PAM processes with compliance requirements can lead to non-compliance risks, especially in regulated industries such as finance and healthcare. To avoid these issues, organizations must incorporate compliance checks within PAM workflows, verifying that access to sensitive data and critical systems adhere to legal standards.
Vendor Selection Pitfalls
Selecting a PAM vendor without evaluating specific needs and potential integration challenges can lead to system mismatches, overcomplexity, and budget inefficiencies. It’s essential to assess vendors based on factors such as AI-driven features, scalability, and the ability to support a diverse range of business environments and infrastructure needs.
Under-Resourcing
A successful PAM deployment requires sufficient investment in both technology and personnel. Lack of resources can result in incomplete implementation, limited user behavior monitoring, and potential gaps in access controls. Organizations should allocate the necessary budget and staffing resources to ensure robust PAM functionality and operational integrity, which will save much more in the future instead of covering breach consequences.
Inadequate Asset Inventory and Classification
Without a clear inventory of critical systems and sensitive data classifications, PAM controls may overlook essential assets. Effective PAM relies on knowing which systems and data require elevated access controls, ensuring that privileged permissions are applied only to the most critical infrastructure components.
Ignoring Cloud and IoT Considerations
Modern infrastructures often extend beyond on-premises systems, encompassing cloud platforms and IoT devices. PAM implementations that fail to account for cloud and IoT access lack the comprehensive visibility needed for effective access control. Organizations should incorporate these environments into their PAM strategy, employing stateless JWT tokens and cross-platform compatibility to secure access effectively.
Learn more about how to enhance the security of AWS cloud services and cloud infrastructures with advanced PAM systems in our article Implementing Privileged Access Management (PAM) in AWS Security.
Identifying and Mitigating Risks
Insider Threats and the Dangers of Unsecured Privileged Access Management
One of the most significant risks in PAM is insider threats—unauthorized or harmful actions by individuals within the organization who have privileged access to sensitive data. Insider risks often arise due to inadequate continuous monitoring of user behavior and privileged account activity. Effective PAM solutions implement role-based access control and leverage behavioral analytics to detect unusual access patterns or anomalies. Organizations should employ least privilege principles, restricting elevated permissions only to roles that absolutely require them and enabling immediate attention to high-risk behaviors.
Cyber Threats and Traditional Cybersecurity Gaps
External cyber threats targeting privileged accounts can exploit gaps in traditional cybersecurity measures, especially in environments that lack comprehensive PAM solutions. Sophisticated attacks, such as advanced persistent threats (APTs), often aim to compromise elevated access for lateral movement within networks. To counter these threats, PAM must include real-time monitoring, risk-based access requests, and emergency access protocols that limit exposure during cyber incidents. Strengthening access control systems with these features mitigates risks associated with external breaches.
Regulatory Compliance and Reporting Challenges
Many industries, especially those handling critical systems or personal data, must meet stringent compliance standards because the penalties for that can count millions of dollars, while reputational losses can even take away the company’s market position forever. Regulations such as GDPR and PCI DSS require strict access control measures, regular audits, and transparent reporting of privileged account activities, while PAM solutions can help to achieve compliance by implementing such access controls, maintaining audit trails, and detailed reporting on privileged access events.
Get a free detailed guide on NIS2 and GDPR Compliance, with a clear explanation of the standards’ requirements and how PAM systems help achieve them.
Vendor Selection and Partnership
Choosing the Right Vendor for PAM Implementation
Selecting a PAM vendor involves assessing their access management capabilities, integration compatibility, and support infrastructure. The right vendor should provide a scalable, secure PAM solution that aligns with the organization’s risk profile and privileged access needs. Evaluating vendors based on their expertise in handling complex elevated permissions scenarios ensures the chosen solution meets both technical and compliance requirements.
Partnership with Vendors for Ongoing Support and Success
Establishing a long-term partnership with PAM vendors offers continuous support for system updates, troubleshooting, and scalability adjustments. Ongoing collaboration ensures that the PAM solution adapts to evolving security requirements and remains effective against new cyber threats. Vendors should provide resources for regular training and feature enhancements, maximizing the value of the PAM investment.
Planning and Strategy
Developing a Holistic Strategy for PAM Implementation
A successful PAM implementation requires a holistic strategy that aligns with organizational objectives and risk tolerance and defines access policies for each privileged account, establishing clear guidelines for role-based access, emergency access, and audit trails. A comprehensive approach includes setting measurable goals for user behavior monitoring, compliance, and access control while integrating these elements into broader security objectives.
Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement and Communication
PAM affects various departments and requires buy-in from stakeholders across IT, compliance, HR, and management. Engaging these teams ensures that the PAM strategy aligns with both security goals and operational workflows. Clear communication on access management policies and user responsibilities reduces the likelihood of internal resistance and significantly supports successful deployment.
Planning for Privileged Access Management at the Enterprise Platform Level
Organizations should implement PAM at the enterprise level, ensuring that all business-critical systems and data repositories fall under centralized privileged access management. This approach involves configuring access control systems that span on-premises, cloud, and IoT environments, enabling seamless access requests and privilege revocation across platforms to enable a unified framework for tracking privileged account usage, supporting consistent security practices throughout the organization.
Implementation and Integration
Implementing the Least Privilege Principle for Enhanced Security
The principle of least privilege is central to PAM, requiring that users have only the access necessary for their specific roles to minimize potential risks by reducing the number of privileged accounts and preventing excessive permissions. PAM solutions should allow dynamic adjustments to elevated permissions based on contextual factors, such as role changes or project completion, reinforcing security controls while maintaining operational flexibility.
Control Selection and Layering for Enhanced Security
Organizations should implement multiple layers of security within PAM. This includes combining access controls with monitoring and audit trails to identify and address security gaps. Control layering enables a defense-in-depth approach, where each security control serves as a safeguard against different threat vectors and includes role-based access, real-time user behavior analytics, and integration with SIEM solutions to create a robust security framework.
Integrating PAM into Other Parts of Enterprise Operations
Effective PAM extends beyond isolated systems and integrates with broader enterprise operations to support continuous monitoring across business applications, cloud resources, and IoT devices. Linking PAM with HR systems, for example, automates privileged account deactivation for terminated employees, enhancing both security and compliance.
Managing and Monitoring Privileged Accounts
Account Provisioning and Password Vaulting Best Practices
Provisioning privileged accounts with secure password vaulting practices ensures that only authorized personnel can access sensitive data. A password vault stores credentials securely and provides controlled access based on pre-defined policies. Best practices include automated password rotation, monitoring of privileged account usage, and implementing strong password policies to reduce the risk of credential theft or misuse.
Utilizing an Emergency Access Process for Critical Situations
For situations requiring urgent privileged access, organizations should have a clear emergency access process. Such a process enables authorized users to gain temporary access to critical systems during emergencies while ensuring that all actions are monitored and logged. This controlled escalation minimizes operational disruptions while keeping a robust audit trail for later review.
Audit: Continuous Monitoring and Vigilant Audits
Ongoing audits are vital for identifying anomalies in privileged account activity. Automated continuous monitoring tools track access patterns in real time, flagging any deviations from expected behavior. Regular audits of user logs and access requests help maintain compliance and uncover potential security issues that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Learn more about how to enhance PAM workflows for faster and more secure privileged account operations in our article Boosting IT Team Efficiency with Automated PAM Workflows for Success.
Employee Vigilance and Training
Fostering Employee Awareness of PAM Importance
Educating employees about the importance of PAM helps reduce risky behaviors and reinforces security controls. Awareness programs should highlight the privileged access risks and emphasize best practices for safeguarding credentials, thus aligning employee actions with the organization’s security objectives.
Providing Proper Policy Training for Effective PAM Implementation
Training employees on PAM policies ensures they understand the importance of access controls and their role in maintaining compliance. This includes guidance on using password vaults, adhering to least privilege principles, and recognizing the significance of audit practices in preventing data breaches and unauthorized access.
How Fudo Security Agent-less Intelligent PAM Simplifies Integration and Management
Agent-less Deployment for Seamless Integration within 24H
Fudo Security’s PAM operates agentlessly, meaning no additional software agents are required on endpoints. This simplifies the deployment process by reducing compatibility issues with various systems and streamlining setup across both legacy and modern environments. Agentless deployment also decreases resource overhead, making Fudo PAM highly adaptable to hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures without invasive configuration changes, minimizing the need for system modifications.
Zero Trust and Least Privilege Enforcement
Fudo PAM supports Zero Trust with the Least Privilege principle with Just-in-Time Mechanism ensures that users only have access to resources essential to their role, with limited amounts of time, minimizing the risk of privilege abuse and preventing unauthorized access even if credentials are compromised.
Advanced Session Monitoring and Recording
Fudo’s PAM solution includes comprehensive session monitoring that captures real-time data on privileged account activities and enables administrators to record, monitor, and replay sessions, providing a full audit trail that supports security investigations.
AI-Powered Behavioral Analysis
Fudo Security leverages top-rated built-from-scratch adaptive AI behavioral analysis models, including keyboard and mouse biometrics, to establish unique behavior baselines for each user and adjust their accuracy with each session. This allows the system to detect deviations from normal behavior patterns that may indicate compromised credentials or insider threats, flag suspicious activity in real time, enhancing security response through intelligent alerting.
Productivity and User Activity Analytics
Through the Productivity Analyzer, Fudo PAM tracks periods of user inactivity, providing valuable insights into the efficiency of resource use. This data is useful for capacity planning and optimizing system workload, as it allows organizations to better understand how privileged accounts are being utilized. The analytics feature also aids in identifying potential security gaps, as unusual patterns in user activity can signify compromised accounts or policy violations.
Customizable Access Policies and Dynamic Adjustments
Fudo’s PAM solution provides extensive options for configuring access policies, enabling administrators to tailor security parameters to specific organizational needs. Policies can be dynamically adjusted based on risk levels, user behavior, or contextual triggers. For instance, high-risk access requests can require multi-factor authentication or additional approval layers, enhancing security in sensitive situations. This flexibility supports evolving security and compliance demands, ensuring that access policies remain aligned with both internal standards and helping to achieve regulatory requirements.
Try a free demo of the Fudo Security AI-powered NextGen PAM Agentless solution to streamline privileged access management and ensure secure remote access for third parties and contractors.
Conclusion
With the rise of cloud services and remote work, the importance of controlling and monitoring privileged access to critical systems has never been more pressing. By avoiding common implementation pitfalls, such as lack of strategy, integration challenges, and compliance gaps, organizations can leverage PAM to enhance both security and operational efficiency. As you work to protect sensitive data and prevent security breaches, remember that a well-executed PAM strategy isn’t just about technology—it’s about aligning processes, training, and partnerships to support resilient and scalable growth.
Our experts are happy to discuss your business, its requirements, and needs in detail, to offer the best solution. Don’t leave your systems at risk—schedule a free consultation with Stefan Rabben.
