What is Privileged Access Management?

PAM is a set of security practices and tools that control, monitor, and secure accounts with elevated permissions, such as administrators and service accounts.

Why do privileged accounts need extra protection?

Because compromising a privileged account gives an attacker much broader access and potential for damage than compromising a standard user account.

What is just-in-time access?

Just-in-time access grants elevated permissions only for a limited, specific time window rather than permanently, reducing the amount of time an account holds high-risk privileges.

What is a privileged credential vault?

It's a secure system that stores privileged account credentials, often rotating passwords automatically so they aren't reused indefinitely or exposed in plain text.

How is PAM different from general IAM?

IAM manages identity and access broadly for all users and systems, while PAM applies stricter, specialized controls to the smaller subset of highest-risk privileged accounts.

Does PAM require session recording?

Many PAM solutions include session recording as a best practice, capturing what privileged users do during elevated sessions for auditing and incident investigation.

Is PAM required for compliance?

Frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001 expect evidence of controls over privileged access, making PAM practices a common and often necessary part of passing those audits.

Cybersecurity

Privileged Access Management (PAM)

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Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a set of security practices and tools focused specifically on controlling, monitoring, and securing accounts with elevated permissions, such as system administrators, database admins, and service…

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Definition

Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a set of security practices and tools focused specifically on controlling, monitoring, and securing accounts with elevated permissions, such as system administrators, database admins, and service accounts.

Overview

Privileged accounts — those with the ability to change system configurations, access sensitive data broadly, or manage other users' access — represent an outsized security risk, since compromising one can give an attacker far more damage potential than compromising a standard user account. PAM addresses this with controls like a privileged credential vault that stores and rotates admin passwords automatically, just-in-time access that grants elevated permissions only for a limited window rather than permanently, and session recording that logs everything a privileged user does during an elevated session. PAM builds on top of broader Identity and Access Management (IAM) practices but applies stricter controls specifically to the smaller set of highest-risk accounts. It commonly integrates with Secrets Management systems for credential storage and requires Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) before granting elevated access, reflecting the principle that the more powerful an account is, the more verification and oversight it should require. PAM is a common focus area in compliance-driven security programs, since frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001 specifically expect evidence of controls over privileged access.

Key Concepts

Focuses specifically on securing accounts with elevated permissions
Uses credential vaulting to store and automatically rotate admin passwords
Just-in-time access grants elevated permissions only for a limited time window
Session recording logs privileged user activity for auditing
Builds on IAM but applies stricter controls to the highest-risk accounts
Often requires MFA before granting any elevated access

Use Cases

Vaulting and rotating shared administrator and root passwords automatically

Granting temporary, just-in-time elevated access instead of permanent admin rights

Recording and auditing sessions performed with privileged credentials

Securing service account credentials used by automated infrastructure tools

Meeting compliance requirements that mandate controls over privileged access

Frequently Asked Questions

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