Find the best ways to secure your privileged identity management

Data breaches and insider threats have reached unprecedented levels. Protecting your organization starts with securing its most sensitive access points: privileged accounts. These accounts, often held by system administrators, database managers, and IT executives, are the keys to your digital kingdom. If compromised, the damage can be catastrophic.

So, how do you protect them? It starts with Privileged Identity Management.

TL;DR: 6 Key Best Practices for Privileged Identity Management

• Deploy robust Privileged Access Management (PAM) tools to control and audit access.

• Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all privileged users.

• Monitor and audit privileged activity continuously.

• Apply the principle of least privilege to reduce attack surfaces.

• Rotate credentials frequently and enforce strict password policies.

• Strengthen identity management using eMudhra's secure solutions.

What is Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?

Privileged Identity Management (PIM) involves securing accounts that have elevated access to an organization’s most critical systems and sensitive data. These include system administrators, network engineers, and other privileged users. Because these accounts have broad control, they are prime targets for cybercriminals.

A successful attack on even a single privileged account can give adversaries unlimited access to your systems, networks, and sensitive data, leading to data theft, compliance violations, and long-term reputational damage. PIM is your first line of defense in modern cybersecurity.

Privileged Identity Management Best Practices

1. Deploy Privileged Access Management (PAM) Tools

Start with implementing dedicated PAM solutions that manage, control, and audit access to privileged accounts. PAM tools offer time-limited, policy-based access to users on a need-to-know basis and ensure detailed activity logs are recorded for compliance and incident response.

2. Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Passwords alone are no longer sufficient. MFA adds an extra layer of protection by requiring users to verify their identity using two or more factors, such as biometrics, OTPs, or hardware tokens. Even if credentials are stolen, MFA makes unauthorized access extremely difficult.

3. Monitor and Audit Privileged User Activity

Continuous privileged user monitoring is essential. Use automated auditing tools to track logins, session activities, and access patterns. This helps quickly identify anomalies and insider threats, reducing the dwell time of potential breaches.

4. Apply the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP)

Give users only the access necessary to perform their duties, nothing more. Regularly review access rights and remove elevated privileges when they are no longer needed. This limits exposure and minimizes potential damage if an account is compromised.

5. Enforce Strong Credential Policies

Mandate complex password creation, enforce regular credential rotation, and use password vaults to securely store and manage credentials. Disallow password reuse and ensure minimum length and character diversity for all privileged account credentials.

6. Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Use RBAC to simplify access control by grouping users into roles and assigning permissions accordingly. This limits the proliferation of privileged accounts and ensures only authorized personnel have access to critical systems.

7. Record Privileged Sessions

Enable session recording for privileged accounts to capture all on-screen activities during a login session. This adds layer of accountability and provides valuable forensic insight in the event of a breach.

8. Rotate Credentials Regularly

Rotating credentials such as SSH keys, API tokens, and passwords regularly ensures that even if access credentials are leaked, the damage window remains narrow. Automation can simplify this process across your infrastructure.

Real-World Use Case: Preventing Insider Threats – The Capital One Breach

In March 2019, Capital One suffered a major data breach affecting over 106 million U.S. and Canadian customers. The culprit was not a typical outsider hacker but a former AWS employee who exploited a misconfigured web application firewall (WAF), part of the organization’s privileged access layer, to access temporary IAM role credentials and exfiltrate sensitive data from AWS S3 storage.

What Went Wrong:

• A dormant privileged account (associated with the misconfigured WAF role) was never decommissioned after its intended purpose. This violated the principle of least privilege.

• The attacker used Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) to exploit the firewall and retrieve metadata credentials. These credentials then allowed full access to sensitive data in S3 buckets.

• The breach was uncovered only after a tip-off, highlighting insufficient monitoring and the absence of automated alerts for privileged access anomalies

Post-Incident Remediation:

Capital One overhauled its Privileged Identity Management controls by:

• Implementing strong PAM tools to ensure that privileged sessions are governed and monitored.

• Applying RBAC and the principle of least privilege, decommissioning unused roles and ensuring granular access controls.

• Introducing automated credential rotation and stringent access reviews to eliminate stale or unused credentials.

Since these changes, there have been no reported incidents involving dormant or privileged account misuse at Capital One.

How eMudhra Strengthens Privileged Identity Management

eMudhra, a leader in digital identity and trust services, offers comprehensive solutions to help organizations implement effective Privileged Identity Management strategies:

1. Advanced Authentication Methods

eMudhra ensures secure access through advanced methods like digital signatures, certificate-based authentication, and biometrics. These add multiple layers of protection to your privileged accounts.

2. Seamless PAM Integration

eMudhra integrates with existing PAM tools and enhances access control with dynamic policy enforcement, access governance, and secure session initiation based on role and context.

3. Digital Signing for Accountability

All privileged actions can be digitally signed and traced back to an individual, ensuring non-repudiation and improving auditability.

4. Compliance & Regulatory Readiness

Whether it’s GDPR, eIDAS, or industry-specific standards, eMudhra helps ensure your identity and access management policies meet global compliance requirements.

5. Scalable, Flexible Solutions

eMudhra offers scalable solutions suitable for enterprises of all sizes, from startups to complex multinationals. You get customizable identity controls that evolve with your infrastructure.

Take Action Now to Protect Privileged Accounts

Privileged Identity Management is no longer optional; it’s a foundational cybersecurity requirement. Implementing robust controls, such as PAM tools, MFA, least privilege, and continuous monitoring, protects your most sensitive access points from insider threats and external attacks.

eMudhra’s secure identity solutions give you the confidence to lock down privileged accounts with industry-leading authentication, encryption, and compliance support.