What Is Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?

Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is a critical aspect of cybersecurity, designed to manage and safeguard accounts that have extensive control over IT systems. This management system is not just about controlling access; it’s about ensuring that the right people have the right level of access and that this access is used responsibly.

What Is Privileged Identity Management?

In simpler terms, PIM is about keeping an eagle eye on the powerful “keys” of an organization – the accounts that can make or break its security. These are the accounts of high-ranking officials and technical experts who have access to sensitive data and systems. Traditionally, these accounts have been loosely managed, but with the increasing complexities of IT environments and growing cybersecurity threats, PIM has become indispensable.

Key Takeaways

• What is PIM? Privileged Identity Management focuses on managing and securing high-level access accounts in a company’s IT infrastructure.
• Purpose. It helps businesses meet compliance standards and prevent breaches caused by privileged account misuse.
• Key Accounts. PIM deals with superuser accounts like those of database administrators, CIOs, and CEOs.

The Famous Trio: PAM, PIM, and IAM

All these concepts to access management are based on the idea of granting specific permissions to user groups in order to protect companies from different types of access management risks. In essence, certain users can be granted specific rights and access to data and systems based on the policy that has been assigned to them. In order to configure a secure environment, you must first identify the information, applications, and people who require privileged access and strictly manage permissions. Here’s what PAM, PIM, and IAM fundamentally do:

If you’re interested in this topic, make sure you check out this article for an in-depth comparison of the three concepts.

Privileged Identity Management Roles

• Just-in-Time Access: Provides temporary, necessary access to users, systems, or applications.
• Extended Access for Specific Periods: Enables access for set durations, like a three-month project, with automatic expiration.
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Introduces a multi-layered identification process for secure access verification.
• Access Privilege Record Viewing: Allows tracking of access history to identify the origins of potential breaches.
• Report Generation: Facilitates creation of security audit reports, vital for compliance with regulations like GDPR.

Benefits of Implementing Privileged Identity Management

• Simplified Access Management. Streamlines the process of granting and recovering access privileges.
• Enhanced Security: Monitors current and past access, aiding in future access decisions.
• Regulatory Compliance Support. Helps meet guidelines from GDPR, HIPAA, and more, while providing easy report generation.
• Reduced IT and Auditing Costs. Automates permission settings and report generation, cutting down manual labor.
• Mitigates Risks of Unused Active Accounts. Actively manages and restricts access for dormant accounts to prevent unauthorized use.

PIM Implementation

To put PIM in place, start by crafting a clear policy that outlines the rules for handling key accounts. Appoint someone to oversee these policies, ensuring they’re followed correctly.

It’s crucial to identify all the superuser accounts in your organization and continuously monitor them. Finally, establish solid procedures and use the right tools to manage these accounts efficiently. This approach ensures your company’s critical data remains secure and well-managed.

Key takeaways

1. Create a policy that specifies how highly privileged accounts will be controlled, together with the rights and restrictions that apply to the users of these accounts.
2. Build a management model that designates the person who is accountable for ensuring that the aforementioned policies are followed.
3. Identify and monitor all superuser accounts.
4. Establish procedures and deploy technologies for management, such as user provisioning tools or specialized PIM solutions.

How Can Heimdal® Help?

Since privileged accounts have special permissions and are the ones close to the most critical data of an organization, they, of course, require special attention and management that only can be acquired through a powerful PAM strategy powered by an automated Privileged Access Management Solution that will properly manage the approval/denial flow to privileged sessions.

Why Choose Heimdal® Privileged and Access Management?

The Heimdal Privileged and Access Management solution is great for many reasons, but here are the most important ones:

• it supports PEDM-type (Privilege Elevation and Delegation Management) non-privileged user account curation functionalities for AD (Active Directory), Azure AD, or hybrid setups, thus removing the risk posed by over-privileged accounts;
• it gives you power over what happens during an elevated session and stronger security against insider threats;
• if paired with our Next-Gen Antivirus & MDM, it automatically deescalates user permissions on threat detection;
• it gives you flexibility in the approval/denial flow since you can grant or revoke permissions from anywhere in the world;
• it supports Zero-Trust execution;
• it supports just-in-time access: the privileged session has a limited timeframe, dramatically reducing this way the time an attacker would have to move laterally across the network if he had previously managed to get access to a privileged account;
• you can remove local admin rights using Heimdal PAM closing off OS and web vulnerabilities this way;
• you can prove compliance with NIST AC-5 and NIST AC-1,6.

Wrapping Up…

Privileged Identity Management is the most effective method for managing superuser accounts across an organization. C-level executives and senior management may also have administrative privileges and access to confidential data. In order to prevent breaches, specific privileges and access need careful monitoring and the appropriate restrictions in place. PIM ensures that each user has a specific distribution of identity and rights, guaranteeing that they can only access data within the scope of their permissions and only conduct certain actions.

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