Intelligent CISO Issue 49 | Page 68

A privileged access management solution is a strong first step to protect the ‘ crown jewels ’ of the IT infrastructure .
decrypting myths secure , which can become a massive problem for organisations . As a result , businesses need to address this early on , ensure employees have the access they need , and also make sure that everyone is understanding cyber-risks .
It is still necessary that organisations restrict access to sensitive data , so finding the balance can be a tricky situation . Whether remote or in the office , no business should be allowing complete blanket access to sensitive information . Also , providing too many users with too many privileges at all times opens the organisation up to an exponentially higher risk of having privileged credentials stolen , exploited and escalated in order to steal secrets , encrypt data , or bring systems to a halt . Granting elevated privileges only as and when needed – no more and no less – restricts exposure to a minimum while still allowing users to go about their work efficiently .
In a recent study by Oracle and KPMG , 59 % of surveyed companies suffered a cyberattack due to privileged credentials being shared or stolen . So , the odds are not in your favour when it comes to granting excessive privileges to users across your organisation . Most companies typically give users too many privileges , or too many resources , as a blanket policy . While this makes sense from an operational point of view , this can go too far from a security point of view . But once companies are restricting privileges , this can hinder the day-to-day work and impact employee productivity if not done carefully .
This is why Just-in-Time access security is a foundational practice to help reduce superfluous access privileges , and a key tool in implementing the Principle of Least Privilege and Zero Trust security models . As a policy , Just-in-Time security aims to minimise the risk of standing privileges in order to limit risk and exposure to potential cyberattack .
This approach , at its core , addresses three main factors of access : location ; timing ; and actions . Where is a user attempting to access from ? Are they authorised to work during this timeframe , and how long will they need to retain access ? What exactly are they attempting to do with their access ?
Non-IT users can also be protected by Just-in-Time security solutions .

A privileged access management solution is a strong first step to protect the ‘ crown jewels ’ of the IT infrastructure .

Workstations are a constant source of vulnerability due to phishing scams and ‘ password fatigue ’ of users , with too many login credentials for too many different systems . However , removing local administrator accounts can cause headaches for hampered users and overburdened helpdesks . Endpoint Privilege Management empowers users to seamlessly elevate privileges for a specific application or process without elevating session or user privileges . This effectively eliminates vulnerable endpoint admin rights .
Ultimately , the aim of Just-in-Time security is to reduce – to an absolute minimum – the number of users with elevated privileges , the amount of privileges they each hold and the time duration for which they are granted . This enables organisations to improve cybersecurity posture , facilitated by
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