Zero Trust is a security framework that mandates continuous verification and authorization of all users trying to access enterprise resources in order to prevent unauthorized access. This mandated process ensures that users and devices are never trusted by default, even if they are connected to the enterprise network. This "never trust, always verify" approach helps you identify malicious and suspicious activities and block them in real time, something that may not be possible with the traditional perimeter-based approach.
In the traditional approach, users and devices gain unrestricted access to IT resources within the network perimeter. Thus, if an attacker gains access to the enterprise network, they can move laterally within it and gain access to critical resources and data, thereby widening the threat landscape. This is why Zero Trust is important for the modern enterprise.
Zero Trust is a holistic approach that aims to provide blanket security for an enterprise. It is solution-agnostic and must be implemented across the enterprise's infrastructure. By adopting the Zero Trust framework globally, you can perform risk profiling on your critical resources and take a risk-based approach to IT security management. This allows admins to enforce additional restrictions on a select few critical systems and accounts, protecting them from internal and external threats and thereby minimizing the possibility of data breaches. Thus, to implement an effective Zero Trust model, you must adopt solutions that incorporate Zero Trust principles.
PAM solutions play a pivotal role in organizational security by regulating access to critical IT infrastructures. Without Zero Trust PAM solutions, any Zero Trust strategy would be incomplete. Additionally, the ever-evolving access management requirements of the modern, hybrid workforce makes Zero Trust principles essential in PAM solutions. These principles involve least privilege access, continuous monitoring, risk profiling, access moderation, and session management, which enterprises can use to scrutinize access to privileged accounts and devices and enforce Zero Trust privilege across the organization.
Zero Trust privilege is a security model that helps regulate privileged access using the core principles of Zero Trust. This approach requires enterprises to assume that all privileged users and devices are potential threat actors that must be scrutinized with continuous authentication and authorization. By risk profiling user actions and resources in real time, organizations can take a proactive approach to PAM and go beyond validating privileged access based on just user roles and requirements.
PAM solutions that adopt Zero Trust privilege help organizations implement contextual, dynamic security controls that enforce least privilege access; identify potential threats and malicious user activities in real time; minimize privilege abuse; and instantly invalidate access or trigger automated actions.
While Zero Trust and the principle of least privilege (PoLP) both help enhance enterprise security, they have their differences. The PoLP dictates that users gain no more than the access privileges required to perform their assigned tasks. This is to ensure that even if an account gets compromised, the attacker will have minimal scope for any potential exploit.
Zero Trust, on the other hand, is a holistic approach that extends beyond just access validation. It factors in various aspects of the organization's infrastructure and data, involving continuous authentication and authorization across all these layers. Thus, while least privilege access is the foundation for a solid Zero Trust approach, it is only one part of the overarching concept of Zero Trust.
By adopting Zero Trust principles in your PAM strategy, you can:
The right Zero Trust PAM approach may vary based on the size, scale, and needs of each organization. However, you can ensure the following with your PAM solution when considering a Zero Trust PAM approach:
Identify every user's access privileges and map them with their access requirements. Identify excess privileges and moderate access accordingly.
Create a list of mission-critical IT resources that require additional layers of security. Revoke all standing privileges to these resources.
Provide time-restricted, on-demand access to privileged accounts. Automatically provision and deprovision privileged access using a request-release workflow to enforce least privilege access.
Identify the risks associated with users and devices based on their actions and integrity, respectively.
Continuously authorize users by enforcing adaptive MFA when behavioral anomalies are detected.
Create custom access policies to protect your critical resources. Set up policy restrictions that prevent unauthorized access, restrict users from performing malicious actions, alert stakeholders about critical actions, and do even more.
Adopt an attribute-based access control (ABAC) process for a fine-grained approach to access management.
Although Zero Trust PAM is the way ahead, it comes with some challenges, such as:
Although the concept of Zero Trust has been around for a while, the rate of adoption of Zero Trust principles is still low due to a lack of awareness. Large-scale awareness campaigns are required to make the transition seamless and effective.
The transition from a perimeter-based approach to a perimeterless approach requires a significant change in mindset, and this can be a stumbling block in some cases. The addition of friction to existing mechanisms might not be welcomed by many due to reasons such as a fear of business disruption and an aversion to new processes.
Without the right tools and expertise, adopting a Zero Trust PAM strategy can be a complex, costly affair. Finding the right Zero Trust PAM solution will be a key factor.
Consider a scenario in which access to a critical database server needs to be protected. A traditional PAM solution can securely grant access to relevant users, but only on an all-or-nothing basis. While this does streamline otherwise siloed access management policies, it also gives rise to standing privileges, which may eventually lead to privilege abuse or accidental misuse.
In contrast, a Zero Trust PAM solution grants least privilege access by implementing just in time (JIT) access controls. This ensures that access to sensitive credentials is only granted temporarily based on need and that it is then automatically revoked. Additionally, with features such as privileged session monitoring, Zero Trust PAM solutions give admins the option to terminate the sessions of users who carry malicious intent.
Beyond just solidifying access management for internal users, Zero Trust PAM solutions also constantly monitor user activities and device risks to enforce continuous user authentication in the form of adaptive MFA. These solutions can even perform automated actions, such as session termination and access revocation. Thus, Zero Trust PAM solutions go beyond basic access regulation to offer granular controls for threat mitigation. If you are caught between traditional PAM and Zero Trust PAM, always choose a Zero Trust PAM solution.
Most of the technical challenges can be addressed if you find the right Zero Trust PAM solution for your enterprise. If you are looking to switch to a Zero-Trust-ready PAM solution, find one that offers the following:
Request-release workflows are a key part of every good PAM solution and the first step in adopting Zero Trust principles. They are essential in provisioning limited, on-demand access to privileged credentials. With such limitations in place, users must request access from the relevant stakeholders by stating their access requirements. If their reasons are found to be valid, they will gain time-limited access to the relevant resources.
Often, users require temporary access to privileged credentials or groups to perform business-critical tasks. In such cases, without the right practices in place, these users may gain standing privileges to these credentials. A PAM solution that offers privilege elevation and delegation management (PEDM) capabilities streamlines this process without causing business disruptions by automating privilege escalation and demotion. Controls such as JIT privilege elevation facilitate temporary privilege escalation without users gaining access to credentials with higher privileges. This helps you adopt the PoLP across the enterprise, without which a Zero Trust PAM approach would be incomplete.
In addition to PEDM, the ideal Zero Trust PAM solution must offer command- and application-level filtering. Command controls prevent users from running unauthorized, sensitive commands. Such controls can either allowlist or blocklist commands that can be executed, thereby preventing potentially destructive actions. Additionally, using application controls, you can give users access enough to perform just the action required.
Privileged session management features, such as session monitoring and recording, are vital to identifying malicious threats. These features enable security admins to shadow sessions in real time and remotely terminate any sessions they deem harmful.
Behavioral analytics and continuous monitoring are core functions of Zero Trust PAM solutions. They help you identify and isolate anomalous activities in the organization. User and entity behavior analytics helps define baselines for permitted actions. By risk profiling users and devices, you can proactively identify and act on any detected deviations before they turn into potential threats.
A risk-based approach to PAM is only effective if you set up custom policies in the solution that trigger automated actions when anomalous activities are performed. A PAM solution that offers policy-based access controls continuously assesses the risk factors associated with users, accounts, and devices and triggers contextual, adaptive actions. This elevates your organization's overall security while eliminating the need for manual intervention.
In addition to the features above, security capabilities such as real-time audits, contextual alerts, MFA, and syslog integration will also bolster your Zero Trust PAM approach.
If your existing PAM solution does not help you take a Zero Trust approach to PAM, switch to a Zero Trust PAM solution like ManageEngine PAM360. PAM360 is ManageEngine's PAM offering built for the digital enterprise. Our solution takes a comprehensive approach to Zero Trust and offers all the core Zero Trust PAM features.
If you are just getting started with implementing Zero Trust PAM in your enterprise, see how PAM360 has all your bases covered. Also, connect with our product experts to learn how you can take your first step.