What Is Privileged Identity Management (PIM)? – Source: heimdalsecurity.com

When we talk about Privileged Access Management (PAM), Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Identity and Access Management (IAM), and other access management terms, we think of technologies for protecting a company’s critical assets. These phrases refer to maintaining the security of both systems and sensitive information by controlling who has access and what they are permitted to see and do.

As you have seen in our previous articles, certain definitions slightly coincide, with people tending to use them as if they were completely indistinguishable, which can be a little confusing. As we already covered PAM and IAM, it’s time to take a closer look at PIM, what it is, why companies need it, its benefits, and more.

What Is Privileged Identity Management?

Privileged Identity Management is a security solution that addresses the particular requirements of handling highly privileged access. This information security and management system is designed to assist businesses in meeting compliance standards and preventing system and data breaches caused by the misuse of privileged accounts.

In other words, Privileged Identity Management (PIM) refers to the process of tracking, managing, and securing superuser accounts within the IT infrastructures of an enterprise. When I say superuser accounts, I’m referring to those for database administrators (DBAs), CIOs, and CEOs, which have traditionally been very lightly managed.

According to Vladimir’s article, a superuser account

…means that the user has access to every app and can modify or terminate any type of Windows process. That’s a lot of power right there, especially for someone working on one of the company’s machines.

In order to prevent abuse or misuse of these types of accounts, monitoring is highly required. Unmonitored superuser accounts can result in malware that compromises the system or the loss or theft of important company data.

Therefore, it is important to carefully manage and keep an eye on these accounts, with PIM procedures and systems put in place to safeguard your company’s networks from abuse.

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

Offers “Just-in-Time” access

As explained in a previous article, Just-in-time access, also known as JIT, is an important cybersecurity procedure in which users, applications, or systems are given privileged access, but only for a short time and only when needed.

Allows access for extended periods of time

For example, if a company would need to employ someone for three months, they could grant them access for that period of time. When the time limit expires, the access will immediately end, protecting the organization’s system against potential threats.

Implement multi-factor authentication

With MFA, the identification procedure has at least three layers, requiring individuals with access to provide proof of eligibility in triplicate, at the very least. This process makes it much more challenging for a malicious actor to pose as someone who has authorized access.

View access privilege record

You have the option to go back and check which privileges were granted when and to whom. This useful tool could help companies to determine the origin of a data breach and look into potential mitigation strategies to avoid such attacks in the future.

Generate reports

When your security systems are the subject of an internal or external audit, you are able to create reports. This is especially beneficial if you have to adhere to rules like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Privileged Identity Management Benefits

Here are the most important advantages of PIM:

Facilitates accessibility

PIM simplifies the process of granting and using access privileges. Additionally, it makes it easier for users with privileges to restore access in the event that they forget their credentials.

Enhances security

When using PIM, you can check who currently has access and who has had it in the past, as well as when their access started and stopped. Additionally, you can use it to determine which users should get access in the future.

Keeps up with regulatory compliance

Guidelines like those imposed by regulatory compliance regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, or CCPA, specify that only certain groups of people are granted access to confidential information of various types. By using PIM, you can ensure that you are adhering to these requirements while also creating reports that demonstrate your compliance.

Lowers the cost of IT and auditing

You don’t need to manually set up each user’s set of access permissions when you have a predefined framework and set of access policies. You can also generate reports for auditors in a matter of seconds.

Addresses risks associated with active accounts that are not used

Without PIM in place, cybercriminals could effortlessly exploit an account that had been given access but had subsequently remained inactive. Privileged Identity Management makes sure that access is restricted for these accounts.

PIM Implementation

Here are the main steps you can take in order to implement Privileged Identity Management in your company:

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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