Cybersecurity
Privilege Escalation Threats: Understanding the Importance of PAM to Your Defence Strategy.

With the current rise in the number and frequency of cyber-attacks globally and in Nigeria, it has become important for IT security managers to review their defence strategies. One of the most vulnerable and yet most ignored segments of cybersecurity is the management of privileged accounts.

If you are a security manager, you need to do a little introspection.

How many privilege accounts are in your environment?

Who is using them?

Where have they been used and how do you detect when any of these accounts are compromised or abused?

If you cannot confidently provide answers to these questions, it is time to get a PAM tool. This will form the basis of this article as I take you through why you need one to guard the “Keys to your kingdom”.

What are Privileged Accounts?

These are accounts with additional privileges. These powerful accounts include local and domain account for Windows, root, and database account for Linux/UNIX, service accounts, and administrator accounts for network devices such as routers, switches, and firewalls.

Privilege Accounts are critical components of any organization’s defence strategy. The first thing an attacker looks for is privileged credentials, as they enable them to move freely throughout the network without being detected.

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Why is PAM critical for any organization?

  • Compliance and auditing:

 Regardless of the type of compliance you seek, whether PCI DSS, HIPPA, ISO 27001, or CIS, all of them require password rotation, and your auditors will come after you if you cannot demonstrate the passwords for these powerful credentials are rotated on a regular basis.

With a good PAM solution, you can avoid fines and satisfy your auditors by utilizing the password rotation feature. Most PAM tools allow you to automate the process of password rotation, which eliminates the need to keep track of which passwords are about to expire and how to change them manually.

  • External Threat Defense:

Because privileged accounts are so powerful, the majority of hackers target them. With these accounts, a hacker can move freely throughout your network and cause significant damage in a short period of time. This is where a PAM solution can assist you in avoiding such an occurrence. With a PAM, you can disable direct access to critical assets, particularly core business servers, while still allowing users to access these endpoints through the PAM tool. This minimizes the risk of these privileged accounts falling into the wrong hands.

  • Internal Threat Protection

How do you handle internal threats, disgruntled employees, and employees who have ulterior motives? How do you ensure that your vendors, consultants, and third-party partners have access to only the resources they require to perform their jobs effectively?

A good PAM tool includes a comprehensive auditing capability. Not only is each user’s activity logged, but it can also be recorded. Setting up an alert is another way to keep track of suspicious activity in your environment. This way, if something goes wrong, you’ll be notified.

  • Management of Service Accounts:

Service Accounts are a source of worry for many security teams. This is because their passwords are frequently set to “Never Expire,” and their locations and usage are largely unknown. This void provides an opportunity for hackers and disgruntled employees to exploit. However, a PAM solution will eliminate this constraint. You will be able to determine how many service accounts you have, where they have been used, and who is using them with the discovery capability. Additionally, you can decide to regularly rotate their passwords using the PAM’s password rotation feature.

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Our Successes

ActivEdge Technologies has deployed PAM solutions to four organizations in the financial services industry over the last three years. AXA Mansard Insurance, ARM Pension, FSDH Merchant Bank, and Globus Bank are among these organizations.

The PAM solution enabled the organization to accomplish the following:

·      Reduce the risk of exposing passwords for privileged accounts by disabling direct access to endpoints (servers, databases, and network devices) and requiring all access to pass through the PAM tool.

·      Complete transparency regarding the number of privilege accounts, who is using them, where they are been used and what they are being used for.

·      Automated password rotation at predetermined intervals in accordance with compliance requirements.

·      Quickly respond to threats thanks to the PAM’s ability to quickly disable any compromised accounts.

·      Complete auditing of all user activity, including the recording of sessions, accessed on critical business servers.

·      Implement Role-based access control and so enable users to access only the resources they require to perform their jobs.

·      Integration with third-party security tools, such as SIEM and identity and access management solutions, all aimed at reducing the attack surface.

We’re here to assist you!

ActivEdge has implemented several security solutions in a wide range of organizations over the last decade, including banks, insurance, pension funds, telecommunications, manufacturing, and oil and gas.

As one of Nigeria’s leading technology consulting firms, we understand the unique challenges faced by most organizations and are always prepared to assist you in securing your environment.

Kindly contact us if you are having any cybersecurity issues; our team will gladly discuss your concerns and work with you to find a solution.

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