Why Does Your Company Need Privileged Access Management System?

If you are a growing company, chances are you have a substantially large IT system. And the more complex your infrastructure, the more privileged users you are likely to have. Know what? Some of these users may attempt to override the existing security protocols with malicious intents. A privileged user access management system can keep your organization safe from such misuses.

Privileged Access and the Associated Risks

There is a common misconception that the majority of a company’s security threats come from the outside. But big-ticket research firms have different stories to share. For example, in its 2009 Global Information Security Survey, Ernst & Young maintained that it is the authorized users and employees who pose the greatest security threat to an organization. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), companies tend to lose five percent of their revenues every year, thanks to the fraudulent activities of their employees. And who according to the ACFE commit the majority of these breaches? The most trusted executives across the organization who enjoy a broad access to the company’s computer assets. But one point is to be noted here: not every breach results out of malice. Sometimes, even a well-intentioned privileged user may jeopardize his company’s security by committing small, apparently innocent, mistakes like clicking on a malicious link.

How Can A Privileged Access Management Solution Help?

It's no secret that the privileged user abuse can dramatically impact a company’s brand image, market position, and subsequently its bottom line, amounting to billions of dollars. Then why must companies continue to grant special access to certain employees in the company? Well, companies need privileged users or administrators because they need qualified professionals to handle the source code, file systems, and other assets that allow them to either modify or upgrade their contents. Besides enjoying direct access to their companies’ intellectual property, including product know-how and business data, this handful of users enjoy another important privilege – they are at liberty to grant temporary access to other non-privileged users for performing certain tasks. This only creates more opportunities for attackers to leverage these admin credentials for unscrupulous purposes.

When it comes to accessing a company’s’ data assets, ideally only the trusted people should have the rights. However, from a practical standpoint, it doesn’t make sense to trust anyone unconditionally. That’s why you need a watchdog inside your system infrastructure so that you can monitor and control even the most trusted accesses and revoke the privilege when necessary. A suitable user access management system allows you to keep a tab on those privileged workers-turned-culprits by fortifying your IT infrastructure with an additional layer of security. The ‘privileged’ users will have to log in to this final layer of the security shield with passwords that is, again, reinforced by an encryption mechanism.

Your company needs privileged users – they are valuable contributors to your growth. However, some of the employees from this elite group may become a threat if not properly monitored. Implement a privileged user access management solution to ensure enterprise-wide visibility into the activities of these distinguished employees. It will help you promote a culture of controlled privilege.

A technology enthusiast and an avid blogger, Jennifer Bryant held various leadership roles over the span of her illustrious tech-career.