Editor's note: this blog was posted originally on December 19, 2019 and has been updated with more links and other tweaks.
Cloud environments today require modern tools for cloud access management. Traditional PAMs, while useful for enterprises’ on-prem environments, have some limitations where the cloud is involved, however. Fast-moving cloud teams require elasticity and scalability that modern access management tools can provide.
A case for a Fortune 500 company
One Fortune 500 company, for example, needed more agility to meet their growing demands for cloud access. They were looking for a future-proof cloud solution that was easy to deploy. The company turned to PrivX, a modern, lean access management solution, for help modernizing and securing their access management processes. In addition to gaining agility, they’ve also enjoyed efficiency and security benefits as a result of PrivX’s innovative ephemeral certificate-based authentication approach.
Here are five ways future-proofed privileged access management can help support modernization, inspired by this company’s journey. You can also check out the 5 must-have functions for every Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution RFI Guide,
The Role of Privileged Access Management (PAM) in Cloud Environments
Importance of PAM in IT Security
Privileged Access Management is a security measure that controls and monitors the elevated access granted to users, accounts, and processes within an IT environment. It is essential for maintaining the integrity and security of an organization's systems and data.
By managing these privileged credentials, PAM helps to prevent unauthorized access and potential security incidents that can compromise sensitive information or disrupt critical business operations. The strategic implementation of PAM is a fundamental aspect of a robust IT security posture, particularly as threats become more sophisticated and targeted at high-level access points.
How PAM Secures Multi-Cloud Systems
Multi-cloud systems refer to IT environments that utilize services from multiple cloud providers, such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, to leverage their unique capabilities and avoid vendor lock-in. These systems often include a combination of public and private clouds, as well as on-premise resources, creating a complex network of services that must be secured.
In this intricate context, PAM plays a critical role by providing a centralized framework for managing and monitoring privileged access across all platforms. It ensures that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive systems and data, and that such access is granted following the principle of least privilege.
PAM solutions in multi-cloud systems also facilitate real-time session monitoring, audit trails for compliance, and automated access provisioning and deprovisioning. In this way, PAM enhances security, supports regulatory compliance, and reduces the attack surface within multi-cloud environments.
The Imperative to Transition to Modern PAM Solutions
Limitations of Traditional PAM Solutions
Scalability Challenges
Scalability is a significant hurdle for conventional PAM solutions in multi-cloud settings. As organizations grow and adopt various cloud services, the volume of privileged accounts escalates rapidly. Traditional PAM systems may not be able to scale efficiently to accommodate this growth, leading to potential security gaps and administrative burdens.
Static Credential Management Issues
The static nature of traditional credential management is at odds with the dynamic access requirements of cloud environments. With cloud services, access needs can change frequently, and provisioning and deprovisioning of access must be both timely and secure. Legacy PAM systems often lack the agility to keep up with these fast-paced changes, increasing the risk of credential misuse.
Centralized Infrastructure Limitations
Centralized PAM infrastructures can become a bottleneck in multi-cloud environments. They may not provide the necessary visibility or control over distributed cloud resources, making it difficult to enforce consistent security policies across different platforms. This can leave privileged accounts exposed and organizations vulnerable to attacks.
Why Modern PAM is a Game-Changer
Enhanced Security and Compliance
A modern PAM solution brings a fortified layer of security to multi-cloud environments by offering advanced features like session monitoring, threat detection, and behavior analytics. These capabilities help in identifying and mitigating potential risks in real-time.
Additionally, modern PAM ensures that access policies are consistently applied across all cloud platforms, aiding in compliance with regulatory standards. By maintaining a comprehensive audit trail and offering fine-grained access controls, modern PAM solutions help organizations meet stringent compliance requirements and reduce the risk of costly violations.
Improved Operational Efficiency
Implementing a modern PAM solution streamlines the management of privileged access, which in turn boosts operational efficiency. Automated workflows for granting and revoking access rights reduce manual efforts and minimize the potential for human error.
Moreover, modern PAM systems can integrate with existing IT infrastructure, allowing for seamless operations and quicker response times. This integration simplifies administrative tasks and enables IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than being bogged down by routine access management duties.
Scalable and Flexible Access Management
The scalability and flexibility of modern PAM solutions are essential for businesses that operate in dynamic multi-cloud environments. These solutions adapt to the changing size and complexity of the organization, supporting growth without compromising security. They allow for the quick addition of new cloud services and resources into the access management framework.
Furthermore, modern PAM systems offer the flexibility to enforce context-aware access policies, ensuring that users have the right level of access at the right time, which is crucial for maintaining operational agility in a multi-cloud setup.
Five Essential PAM Features for Multi-Cloud Success
1. Manage both cloud and on-premises environments from a single user interface
Many companies today operate in a multi-cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) environment, utilizing some combination of public cloud, private cloud and on-premises environments. Each environment may have its own access management console, which quickly becomes time-consuming and complex to manage.
Modern access solutions provide oversight from a single user interface, controlling and consolidating access to workloads across these environments. The single interface makes it easy to manage, provides visibility into the whole environment, and simplifies access for users.
2. Simplify deployment and maintenance with agentless, thin client software
Managing software agents on client and host systems can be a burden for IT admins. A lean PAM solution with agentless deployment lifts the administrative burden, providing a central location for IT admins to manage, maintain and update their PAM solution across the entire organization.
Through this centralized system, IT admins can automatically apply security updates across the entire business, eliminating the security risk of endpoints slipping through and missing a vital update. Agentless software is a huge time and labor saver, giving IT admins more space to focus on their more valuable work.
Agentless, thin client software has additional benefits. Read the The Battle of PAM Clients: 5 Benefits of Thin Clients post to learn more.
3. Experience access management without credentials management
There’s a lot of risk involved in storing permanent access credentials in vaults. Even if those credentials are carefully protected, it’s still possible for them to be stolen, creating unwanted potential access to sensitive environments. Enterprises can eliminate the risks involved with storing credentials and simplify access management with a credentialless solution.
Privileged access to sensitive environments is most secure when there are no credentials involved whatsoever. Credentialless access can be achieved through ephemeral certificates that exist only for as long as they’re needed to authenticate privileged connections. Once they’ve authenticated the connection, ephemeral certificates disappear automatically, so there’s no possibility of lost or stolen credentials. It’s a simple, elegant solution that provides better security.
These are just some of the reasons why we got a prestigious recognition. Learn more in KuppingerCole: SSH.COM one of the Leaders in Privileged Access Management.
4. Stay current by automatically synchronizing with your identity management system
The makeup of your team is always changing, with employees coming and going, the arrival and departure of temp workers, and new partnerships with third-party contractors. As team members’ roles change, your access needs are always changing, too. That’s why your access management solution needs to be able to interface with your identity management system (IMS/IAM).
Automatic synchronization between the two systems enables you to handle changes in access needs instantaneously – increasing security by ensuring the right access for the right users, and eliminating distracting delays, saving time and effort throughout the organization.
Learn more about how to Make remote work fast & secure for admins, devs and IT subcontractors.
5. Expand with a scalable solution
The speed of cloud requires access management that can keep up, scaling up and down as business needs change. Choose a solution that’s able to scale across your organization, automatically on- and off-boarding hosts so users don’t have to wait for access to resources they need.
That Fortune 500 company turned to PrivX to meet their growing demands for cloud access. As new hosts are added, PrivX automatically discovers and on-boards them – and off-boards them when no longer needed.
As enterprises increasingly rely on the cloud, modern access management tools can work alongside traditional PAMs to support the modernization process. We are not alone with this view, Gartner predicts that by 2022, 40% of privileged access will be ephemeral. Read more about how to make your privileged multi-cloud journey future-proof on Gartner's site here (takes you to the Gartner site).
While you are at it, check out our Zero Trust solution portfolio which aligns well with Gartner's recommendations.
PrivX™: Next-Gen Hybrid PAM for Multi-Cloud Excellence
PrivX by SSH Communications Security is an advanced Privileged Access Management solution that embodies the essential features for multi-cloud success outlined in this article. It offers seamless management across cloud and on-premise environments, agentless architecture, passwordless access, and automatic synchronization with identity management systems. PrivX ensures your access management scales effortlessly with your growing business needs.
Ready to see PrivX in action? Request a demo and take the first step towards a streamlined, secure multi-cloud PAM experience. Our demo service allows you to witness firsthand the simplicity and power of PrivX, helping you make an informed decision for your organization's access management strategy.
FAQ
What are the benefits of adopting identity-driven PAM in the cloud?
Identity-driven PAM ensures that only authorized users with a legitimate business justification can access sensitive data. This approach enhances cloud security by minimizing standing privilege, where access is granted continuously.
Leveraging role-based access, businesses can ensure that users are provisioned access based on their roles, increasing transparency and privacy.
Additionally, it facilitates access transparency, allowing organizations to monitor who accessed what, when, and why, thus supporting compliance and security audits.
How does PAM handle service account security risks in multi-cloud environments?
PAM mitigates service account security risks by implementing role-based access and minimizing standing privilege. This approach ensures that service accounts have only the necessary permissions and that access is granted only when needed, reducing the risk of unauthorized access to customer data.
Additionally, PAM enhances cloud security by providing detailed audit trails and access transparency, enabling businesses to monitor service account activities and detect potential security challenges.
Why is understanding identity governance crucial for cloud adoption?
Understanding identity governance ensures that access to sensitive data and cloud resources is properly managed and monitored. Effective identity governance minimizes security challenges by enforcing role-based access and reducing standing privilege. Moreover, identity governance enhances privacy and transparency, helping businesses comply with regulatory requirements and protect customer data in cloud computing environments.
What foundational principles should business users know about modern PAM solutions?
Business users should understand that modern PAM solutions are based on principles like minimizing standing privilege, ensuring role-based access, and providing access transparency.
Modern PAM solutions also support cloud security by offering detailed audit trails and ensuring that access is provisioned based on business justification, enhancing both security and compliance.
How can PAM streamline request access processes in multi-cloud setups?
PAM streamlines request access processes in multi-cloud setups by automating the provisioning and de-provisioning of access based on role-based access policies. This reduces the time required to grant access and ensures that access is provided only when there is a valid business justification.
