Privileged password management

Privileged password management is defined as the management of passwords of sensitive servers, users, databases, and other resources in an organizations enterprise network. A privileged password manager or privileged management software, helps an organizations manage all of their privileged passwords across their network from a central console.

Last updated date : 13 Mar 2024

Need for a privileged password management software

In the age where everything revolves around IT, most business applications deal with sensitive intellectual property and strategic information that are critical to the success and even survival of the enterprise. User access control systems are in place almost everywhere to protect sensitive intellectual property. This calls for and emphasis the need for password management tools, which are increasingly essential for enhancing security measures and safeguarding sensitive data.

Over a period of time at an organization, even a non-administrative user acquires a significant number of user accounts. This goes a level above for network and system administrators who deal with hundreds of passwords at various levels. Consequently, it becomes a daunting task for anyone to keep track of all the passwords in an enterprise environment. Users tend to store the user name and password information somewhere in their system locally or in a central location when multiple administrators need to access and use the information.

As system and network administrators mostly deal with sensitive administrative passwords, also known as privileged passwords, which provide complete access to sensitive applications and data, any mismanagement of such passwords would result in a huge security risk exposing the applications to privilege misuse and cyber-attacks by identity thieves.

The way out is through the use of a secure business password management solution that enables secure storage of administrative passwords, offering the flexibility to share them among multiple users based on fine-grained user authorization.

Password Manager Pro - Where Passwords Reside in Safe Custody

Password Manager Pro (PMP) is a comprehensive password management solution for enterprises to manage their administrative/privileged passwords. It serves as a centralized repository for storing user names and passwords of all types of network resources including servers, firewalls, databases, routers, switch, and so on.

Password Manager Pro offers complete password management solution for enterprises.

Password Manager Pro serves not just as a secure password repository, but offers everything needed from a privileged password management software. Using Password Manager Pro, IT admins can store all passwords in encrypted form in the database and achieve role-based access control for users. That is, administrators can centrally create users, assign them with specific roles and define access levels all using the same privileged password management tool. Only authorized users will get access to view, edit or manage the permitted 'resources' (the resources assigned to them) based on their role. Thus, PMP facilitates encrypted storage and secure sharing of passwords in enterprises where multiple users will have access to multiple resources. The user account information and passwords can be accessed from a central web interface.

Apart from privileged user password management and secure password sharing, Password Manager Pro also helps to manage application-to-application and application-to-database passwords. If you have applications in your infrastructure that require connecting to other applications or database using a password, they can query Password Manger Pro to retrieve the password without any human intervention.

Since privileged passwords are too sensitive, Password Manager Pro handles them with due care by assigning ownership for resources, user accounts, and passwords. Resources owned by an administrator cannot be viewed by others unless they are shared.

Password Manager Pro helps in achieving password synchronization too. Existing passwords of remote resources can be changed using Password Manager Pro and the changed passwords are stored in its repository. The comprehensive auditing mechanism of Password Manager Pro helps in tracking who accessed/changed what and when, thereby ensuring accountability in multi-user environment.

To have a comprehensive look at Password Manager Pro's features, click here.

FAQs on privileged password management

  • What are privileged passwords?

    Privileged passwords are passwords to accounts that provide elevated or administrative access to sensitive servers, applications, databases, and so on.

  • Why is it important to implement privileged password management?

    Without a centralized privileged password management tool, thousands of sensitive passwords would be scattered across your enterprise network or be maintained using unsecure methods such as plain-text view in spreadsheets. Subsequently, sharing of passwords in plain-text view leaves the door open for passwords to be lost, stolen or otherwise mishandled, leading to privilege abuse attacks. Privileged password management is vital such that all the privileged passwords in your enterprise can be managed from a central console, where your IT administrators can track of all your sensitive passwords, users, and accounts.

  • How does PMP help secure & manage privileged passwords?

    Using PMP, you can vault all of your privileged passwords in a central console from where your administrators can securely share passwords, manage and revoke access, and rotate passwords of all your privileged users, resources, and applications.
  • Can you share resources without revealing passwords using PMP?

    Yes, you can share privileged resources to users securely without revealing plain-text view of passwords.
  • Can I access PMP for free?

    PMP has a free, 30-day, trial that you can download right away. Click here.