Comprehensive Guide to Privilege Management Strategies
Strategies to enforce least privilege, remove standing admin rights, and handle unexpected access needs.
Principle
Enforce minimal application privileges
Unnecessary elevated access exposes endpoints to attack.
Minimize privileges to combat insider threats
Users across an enterprise need different levels of application access, but unnecessary elevation creates real risk — from insider attacks to targeted credential theft. Grant elevation only for specific, justified needs.
Group applications that require elevated privileges and map those groups to the users who need them, based on usage and access requirements. This implements the Principle of Least Privilege (POLP) — access is granted for exactly the scope required and nothing more.
Admin Rights
Revoke unnecessary local admin privileges
Admin credentials are the highest-privilege accounts in any organization — restrict who holds them.
Remove admin rights from users who don't need them
Local admin credentials provide unrestricted access to critical systems. Granting these rights without precautions puts the digital infrastructure at risk. An insider or attacker with these credentials can misuse that access.
Limit local admin access by creating an authorized list of users who should retain their privileges, then remove local admin rights from everyone else. After removal, use a Privileged Application List to allow those former admins — now running as standard users — to still elevate specific approved applications when needed.
Exceptions
Handle unforeseen elevation needs with JIT access
Temporary access handles occasional needs without creating permanent privilege exposure.
Just-in-Time access for unpredictable privilege requirements
Unexpected elevation needs can occur even in a tightly controlled environment. A sysadmin may need admin-level privileges to install software or update an end-user machine. The end user does not have these rights and should not retain them permanently.
Just-in-Time access supports this scenario. Elevated privileges are granted for a specific time window. When the window closes, elevation is automatically revoked. The user gets exactly what they need to complete the task — and no more.