What is privileged access governance?

The role of privileged access governance in business routines

Building a secure business environment begins with organizations securing their privileged identities. As businesses become more complex, there is a dire need to develop strategies that not only safeguard these identities but also keep track of user activities involving them.

The objective of privileged access governance is to guarantee that users possess authorized access to enterprise resources. Be it privileged insiders or external vendors, the fundamental principle remains consistent: Access to resources is determined solely by users' roles, and any requirement for elevated privileges necessitates approval from an administrator. But, how do enterprises streamline this process? Let us understand with the help of the following example.

When users need to perform critical actions like initiating remote connections or triggering password resets, they require access to the passwords of the respective endpoints. However, providing access to a plaintext view of these passwords would require IT admins to keep track of revocations and perform manual password resets once the job is done. Implementing an access governance strategy allows admins to explicitly manage access to sensitive resources from creation to closure and keep mission-critical operations afloat.

Key components of privileged access governance

Delving into privileged access governance, here are the essential elements that can assist in optimising the workflow for access governance in your organization's infrastructure.

• 01

  Define user roles

  When employees are onboarded into an organization, the initial step to demarcate their access permissions and segregate duties is done by assigning roles. This makes access management a lot simpler because users know the extent to which they can act independently. Also, user roles aid in grouping individuals with similar privileges, thereby facilitating bulk access whenever required.

• 02

  Assign permissions

  User roles gain meaning based on the set of tasks assigned to them. These are permissions that allow users to be notified about the domains to which they will or will not have direct access. Permissions can range from simply viewing credentials to modifying them based on whether an administrator or a non-administrator requests access. As a best practice, it is advisable to always provide users with least-privilege access to enterprise resources. Granular access to sensitive resources ensures that users perform only bare-minimum actions and maintains zero standing privileges across all domains.

• 03

  Govern permissions

  Accessing high-value assets entails access to sensitive enterprise data. This action not only mandates bare-minimum access controls but also requires a stringent request-release mechanism whenever elevated access is required. With a PAM tool in place, a user will be able to perform sensitive actions only for a stipulated period of time. This prevents excessive privilege accumulation over time and protects enterprise identities from privilege creep and exploitation.

• 04

  Adhere to compliance mandates

  More than just implementing access governance strategies, it's important for organizations to adhere to compliance requirements and maintain transparency over user activities. With privileged access governance in place, organizations can demonstrate compliance with various industry and government regulations, such as HIPAA, the GDPR, and SOX, ensuring improved security levels across all segments of the IT network.

Benefits of implementing privileged access governance within your enterprise

By employing a privileged access governance strategy with diverse access provisioning levels on the privilege ladder, IT administrators can:

• Exercise centralised control over privileged identities by storing them within an encrypted vault.
• Enable access to endpoints without the hassle of revealing critical credentials, thereby allowing IT operations go on uninterrupted.
• Achieve visibility over user behavior by keeping track of user access to critical credentials and reducing the potential attack surface for malicious users.
• Improve risk management capabilities by identifying and mitigating threats that could befall the organization.
• Leverage least-privilege access to passwords to keep an eye on who has access to what.
• Increase the productivity of admin teams by automating tasks that would otherwise demand more labor and time.

Building a successful privileged access governance strategy with ManageEngine PAM360

Managing privileged identities has never been easier for organizations, especially when they keep witnessing growth. Often, enterprises do not have visibility into what actions users perform, and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep track of vulnerabilities that arise due to negligence. All it takes is a compromised credential for bad actors to enter an organization laterally and take control over its security.

ManageEngine PAM360's privileged access governance capabilities ensure that the right user has the right privileges to access resources. It empowers IT administrators and authorized users to exercise authority over vital IT resources, including passwords, digital signatures, certificates, license keys, service accounts, and other essentials. This ensures implementation of centralized controls to manage privileged assets and caters to the needs of a holistic access management strategy.