We're starting to explore Privileged Access Management (PAM) to enhance the handling of privileged accounts in our organization. Currently, our setup is a bit of a mishmash between Active Directory admin accounts, sudo access, and some manual controls. Some primary areas we aim to improve include: better visibility into who is using privileged access, session monitoring and auditing for critical systems, reducing shared admin credentials, and tightening control over contractor or temporary access. For anyone who has implemented PAM, did it genuinely enhance security, or did it just increase operational overhead? Additionally, I'm interested in how you managed the rollout - whether you went for a gradual approach or full enforcement immediately.
1 Answer
We had a discussion about privilege elevation for specific applications versus full admin accounts recently. Endpoint privilege management could be a better fit for such cases. Tools like CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager or BeyondTrust can manage application-level elevation without granting full admin rights. In larger environments, full PAM platforms really shine when dealing with shared admin credentials and contractor access.
Our org uses DefendPoint, which generally works well, but it does slow down process startups drastically. Any dev trying to compile code faces a significant delay. I often pause the service when I don't need it.