In light of the recent pandemic, most companies have adopted the hybrid work model. Employees are working from remote locations and accessing applications on the go. This calls for an infrastructure that ensures uninterrupted access while defending against ever-evolving threats.
The traditional "castle and moat" approach to cybersecurity that focuses on defending the network perimeter is just not cutting it. It largely relies on security systems such as firewalls with the assumption that the threat is always originating from the outside of the organization. With the rate of insider threats escalating and privileged employees posing the biggest threat, it's time for a more robust security system—Zero Trust!
Zero Trust is a set of information security principles that were originally proposed by John Kindervag at Forrester Research in 2010. The concept is now rapidly gaining popularity; it focuses on the principle of "never trust, always verify" and eliminates the standard of trusting users, devices, and network connections. Zero Trust is not something you can enable with one simple command. It requires an organization to rethink its entire approach to networking, because it challenges many long-held assumptions about how networks should work and how the industry implements security.
One of the biggest challenges that companies face with Zero Trust is having a good privileged access management (PAM) system in place. PAM is the process of controlling access to resources in a system or an IT environment. Zero Trust's trust-but-verify model cannot function without privileged access and is built on the foundation of PAM. Zero Trust networks only work if every user-device connection in an organization is properly managed and monitored.
A successful Zero Trust model built on PAM treats privilege like an scarce resource. It starts with the assumption that each user's access should be minimized and strictly controlled. Zero Trust networks require administrators to monitor all privileged access inside their organizations closely. It works best when users are completely denied unnecessary privileges.
Zero Trust might seem like a drastic change to some organizations, but it is simply a business process requiring the least privileged access possible. PAM tools are designed to make it easier for organizations to implement Zero Trust principles throughout their infrastructures. Zero Trust policies can be distributed through PAM platforms by segmenting users into different tiers based on their level of privileges. For example, IT staff might have full access to all the systems in an organization while marketing employees need only limited access. Tiers can also be created based on time-bound privileges that provide access only during specific time intervals.
PAM platforms can also provision and deprovision privileges as and when users need them by leveraging automation features that allow admins to preconfigure tasks such as resetting passwords or creating new accounts. Zero Trust also demands granular risk assessment to create the necessary permissions for individuals within an organization. In short, it requires dynamic access controls, and adaptive PAM tools can make this possible.
Privilege management has come a long way since early centralized password managers. Today's PAM tools use advanced machine learning algorithms to identify anomalies across business applications and devices, automatically blocking suspicious behavior without human intervention. Zero Trust networks use PAM tools to control all levels of privileges, including:
Privileged access management strikes at the heart of Zero Trust by limiting users' privileges and monitoring their actions more closely than ever before. Implementing Zero Trust without PAM tools would be nearly impossible. Companies that wish to implement Zero Trust must employ PAM tools to carefully manage access.
Privileged access management tools provide Zero Trust networks with the following benefits:
These benefits are critical for Zero Trust networks as they require privileged access policies that specify what resources an individual or device should have access to, how long that access should be retained, and how it should be revoked in the event of a breach. Zero Trust requires constant monitoring, meaning it's also necessary for PAM tools to provide real-time monitoring of users and devices accessing a network.
Privileged access is a sensitive area where even one mistake can lead to a major security incident. Zero Trust requires PAM tools that not only block privilege abuse, but also provide real-time alerts to identify suspicious activities and alert IT staff to take action before it is too late. Zero Trust privilege management must monitor every user, device, and network from a single pane of glass for complete control over who gets access to what. As Zero Trust becomes more widely adopted within organizations, privileged access management will become just as important as the Zero Trust architecture.