What is the PAM Strategy?
Discover what PAM strategy is and how it can help your organization improve identity and access management.
When it comes to cybersecurity, a Privileged Access Management (PAM) strategy is no longer just a good-to-have—it’s a core component of protecting your organization from the inside out. But what exactly is a PAM strategy, and why does it matter? In this article, we’ll break down what goes into crafting a strong PAM strategy, covering everything from securing critical accounts to minimizing the risk of privilege misuse. For IT and Security leaders, this means building a framework that not only safeguards sensitive data but also supports compliance and audit-readiness in a way that’s both proactive and sustainable.
What is the PAM Strategy?
The privileged access management (PAM) strategy is an approach for managing access to privileged accounts.
PAM Security tactics are based on the principle of least privileged access (PoLP) which states that organizations should only grant users access at the minimum level of what is needed to perform their job roles. Under this principle, privileged access to systems, processes, identities, apps, and accounts should be limited only to those who need them to complete their work.
What is PAM and What Does It Do?
To understand what PAM is and what it does it is first necessary to grasp PAM vs IAM. PAM, also known as privileged access management, is a type of identity and access management (IAM) tactic used to improve cybersecurity in an organization.
Indeed, cybersecurity continues to be a major issue for all sorts of organizations from financial to healthcare. Proven by the statistic that data breaches alone cost organizations a massive $4.45 million on average!
IAM is a branch of cyber security that is tasked with making sure the right users have the right access to the digital resources they need. PAM facilitates IAM because it allows organizations control over who has access to and can use privileged accounts easily and quickly, while also reducing the risk of external and internal security breaches.
Additionally, PAM can help your business stay compliant with the latest data protection regulations as it provides a high level of cybersecurity for information like personal payment information or health information.
PAM also reduces operational costs and minimizes time wastage as it makes the task of monitoring, granting, and revoking access to specific identities, apps or systems simple and easy.
What is a PAM Model?
The PAM model is a framework that can be used to decrease cybersecurity risk, improve operation and financial efficiency, and boost compliance. A PAM model identifies the different levels of risk an organization can move through as they grow through the process of adopting PAM. These levels are:
- Phase 0: High Risk – PAM is not currently being used
- Phase 1: Foundational – PAM is used to limit the risk of unapproved external access
- Phase 2: Enhanced– PAM is also used to minimize internal and third-party overprivileged use
- Phase 3: PAM’s automated capacities are used to retain a high level of security while also reducing time and effort, making your organization systems more efficient.
What is PAM in Simple Terms?
PAM is a security measure that stops anyone who does not have permission from accessing your organizations' systems, accounts, apps or info. Think of it as a way of ensuring everyone within and in partnership with your business is working on a need-to-know basis. The result is that anyone without the right permissions (both internally and externally) cannot gain access past the level that they require.
What Does the Acronym PAM Stand For?
There are many acronyms in the identity and access management field including PAM and PIM. Indeed PIM vs PAM can cause some confusion, so below you can find a detailed breakdown of what each acronym means.
PAM - Privileged Access Management.
The ‘privileged access’ part relates to the sensitivity of the information. It's privileged because not everyone needs to or should have access to it.
The management part relates to the way that PAM tools allow for effective control of who is accessing the information. With PAM solutions your organization can see who is using any privileged accounts and so can monitor and better control this.
PIM - Privileged Identity Management
PIM on the other hand is related to, but different from PAM. The PIM Acronym stands for privileged identity management which is focused on ‘just in time, and just enough’ access to privileged accounts. Instead of using technology and tools as PAM does, PIM is focused on governing super users and admins and providing them with time-bound access to privileged accounts.
What is PAM and How Does it Work?
PAM solutions allow organizations to assign distinct access policies to specific items of tech, devices, processes and accounts to ensure security.
There are many PAM tools and PAM strategies that can be used to improve your organization’s cybersecurity including:
- Monitoring and reporting privilege sessions to analyze usage and gain evidence for audits
- Allowing secure remote access
These tools and strategies facilitate increased security by allowing your organization to grant secure remote access to those who have been given the correct permissions. PAM tools can also be used to monitor access sessions, identifying anomalies and then investigating them, ensuring that no one without the proper permissions has access to privileged accounts.
The impact of applying these tools and strategies is that compliance with data protection regulations is increased, while credential theft and unauthorized access are reduced. Additionally, time spent managing the access to privileged accounts is reduced, improving efficiency and minimizing cost.
Choose Lumos for all your PAM needs
When it comes to PAM vendors Lumos is the number one choice. This is because we offer a Unified Access Platform for IT and Security teams combining the security of identity governance, with the functionality of a SaaS management solution.
Our unique combination results in improved security, along with lower costs, greater productivity, and improved compliance.
Discover how your organization can reap the benefits of using Lumos PAM products, schedule a demo today!
