For any digitized organization, privileged accounts represent a “necessary evil”, on the one hand, because they are required in the administration and maintenance of IT systems, regardless of the environment in which they run, and, on the other hand, because they represent a vulnerability through the extended rights held and become the preferred target of cyber-attacks. The risks associated with privileged accounts can be limited by strictly controlling access and the assigned rights to them, and for this purpose, Datanet Systems recommends CyberArk Privileged Access Management (PAM).
CyberArk is a market leader in PAM solutions, with the application addressing three critical needs for any organization: preventing credential theft, blocking lateral movement if attackers have managed to bypass protection systems, and limiting privilege escalation and abuse.
The easiest way to learn more about Privileged Access Management is by viewing the recording of the “Privileged Access Management with CyberArk solutions” webinar, organized by Datanet Systems and supported by Michal Măšek, Security Team Leader within the Soitron Group.
3 important reasons to use CyberArk PAM solution
Privileged accounts are everywhere and people may be considered the “weak link”
As companies increasingly adopt Cloud services, RPA applications, hybrid work mode, etc., the volume of equipment and applications that require privileged access rights is growing rapidly. The number of “non-human entities” with special rights exceeds that of humans in a typical organization, and they are harder to identify, monitor, and manage.
A PAM solution can automatically discover all these accounts, regardless of their scope – on-premises infrastructure, Cloud, or hybrid environments, and detect abnormal activities from sessions using these accounts as they occur. Complementary, PAM solutions help organizations ensure that users have only the access rights necessary to perform assigned activities and tasks, automatically detect privilege escalation attempts, and facilitate rapid remediation of risks.
Hackers are increasingly targeting terminal equipment
In any company, every end-point device – whether it’s laptop, smartphone, tablet, or server – contains privileged access rights by default. Built-in administrator accounts allow IT teams to solve problems locally, but they also introduce an additional risk factor because attackers can compromise and exploit them, by stealing credentials, escalating privileges, moving from one station from work to another, etc.
PAM solutions proactively address these issues by protecting remote access to the endpoint where local administrative credentials are used, reducing any related risks.
A PAM solution is critical to meeting compliance requirements
A company’s capability to monitor IT infrastructure to detect suspicious events is essential, but if privileged access is not effectively monitored, managed, and protected, the level of vulnerability remains high. PAM solutions enable organizations to record all activities related to access to critical IT infrastructure and sensitive information, helping them meet audit and compliance requirements.
During the Datanet Systems webinar, the Soitron Group specialist presented a series of work scenarios in which he detailed the concrete ways in which companies can use the CyberArk PAM solution to:
- securely store access data and isolate access sessions to critical infrastructure, sessions that are launched using privileged accounts;
- use complex authentication methods and perform security audits;
- detect and restrict access to privileged accounts, etc.
Usage scenarios as well as other examples of how the CyberArk PAM solution can be used can be viewed below jos:
With CyberArk’s PAM solution, companies get:
- mitigating security risks and reducing the attack surface;
- reducing operational costs and the complexity of privileged account management;
- increasing the visibility of the critical infrastructure at the entire company level;
- improving the level of compliance with the legal regulations in force.
For additional technical information about the CyberArk PAM solution, as well as about the full range of services provided by Datanet, please contact us at email at sales@datanets.ro.