The costs of a security breach can be steep. They can include fines, eDiscovery fees, and damage to the brand image.
Streamlining security operations is key to keeping these costs low. One way to do this is by implementing just-in-time access, which compliments Zero Trust with the principle of least privilege.
Easier Privileged Account Management
When you implement a JIT access model, your privileged account management becomes much easier. The first step is vaulting and managing default built-in credentials like Administrator, Root, SA, etc. This eliminates a huge risk and helps make your company safer by reducing the attack surface.
For other accounts, you can require that users provide a valid justification for access to a particular system or application. Once the justification is approved, a temporary account (sometimes called a fly account) can be created that grants a user elevated access for a limited time only. Once the elevated access is used, the account gets revoked or deleted automatically.
This type of privileged access management also makes it easy to grant contractors or application vendors temporary privilege elevation for troubleshooting purposes without granting them a full administrator account. This allows them to perform the tasks needed for the project and then have the privileged access they need to be removed immediately.
The JIT approach is based on Zero Trust principles and the Principle of Least Privilege, meaning that every privileged account has a limited lifespan and is audited to ensure no unauthorized activity occurs. This is a big improvement over the traditional PAM models focusing on vaulting and checking out credentials, which only centralized the problem. A PAM solution that supports a just in time access model also provides a complete audit of all privileged activities and can be configured to alert administrators of suspicious behaviors in real-time.
Reduced Risk of Privileged Access Abuse
With JIT access, users don’t have permanent accounts with privileged access, and privileges are granted only for the time required to complete a task. This approach reduces the risk of privileged access abuse and security risks caused by users with standing privileges.
For example, engineering teams often need elevated privileges to troubleshoot issues, install software, and perform other functions. But if the account remains elevated for too long, the organization faces significant risks such as unauthorized access and insider threats. With an advanced PAM solution that uses the principle of least privilege, organizations can provide engineering teams with the ability to escalate themselves on-demand and for only the time needed to perform a specific task.
Additionally, many companies have a variety of vendor and contractor accounts with privileged access. These accounts may be used for testing, DevOps workflows, and other purposes. While they can be important for business operations, they pose a significant security risk because these users are unlikely to be managed by the IT department and may need to adhere to strict password policies.
A cloud PAM solution that enables you to implement Zero Trust and zero-standing privilege can help reduce the number of these accounts. Using a JIT access model, you can eliminate the need for these accounts by providing ephemeral one-time accounts to third parties and contractors when needed for specific projects. These temporary accounts can then be disabled or expired after the project is completed, eliminating security risks and improving the company’s overall security posture.
Increased Security
Using JIT access helps reduce risk across your entire infrastructure, from servers and workloads to applications on-prem, SaaS, and consoles. As a result, this strategy can help you achieve Gartner’s Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP) by significantly shrinking your attack surface and threat window.
The core of a JIT solution is the time limit imposed on elevated privilege access. It ensures that a user or system only has privileged access for the specific amount of time required to complete an action, then it gets automatically revoked. In addition to reducing risk, this approach makes it easier to comply with regulations like HIPAA and GDPR.
Another benefit of JIT is that it helps to prevent credentials from being stolen and reused in a cyberattack. Users no longer have standing access to a privileged account, meaning they can’t use the same passwords across different accounts or systems.
Finally, using JIT access enables you to set up monitoring alerts that notify administrators when an account needs to be changed or a request for higher-level privilege is made. In addition, you can also automatically enforce a policy that requires users to justify their need for more privilege before they can access a system. This is a crucial safeguard for helping to avoid privileged access abuse and ensuring that risk-based decisions are fully informed.
Reduced Costs
Organizations can significantly reduce their attack surface by limiting the time users have elevated access to a system. This is because privileged access is only granted for the specific task and automatically revoked once the need is no longer present. As a result, the number of opportunities for threat actors to exploit vulnerabilities and execute lateral movement is reduced.
This also makes it easier for security teams to enforce policies around privileged access, as the risk of privileged accounts being used for malicious purposes is minimized. Furthermore, implementing JIT access can help lower costs as there is less need for manual provisioning of access, as well as the processes related to account expiration and password rotation.
Creating a PAM solution that supports a Just-in-Time approach is key to reducing security risks and improving efficiency. This requires a zero-standing privilege model that enables security and business users to request temporary access. This can be done through an automated or manually reviewed and approved workflow.
By removing standing accounts, implementing a Just-in-Time access model can drastically improve an organization’s cybersecurity posture and meet compliance requirements such as POLP and Zero Trust. For example, organizations can start by removing default built-in administrator credentials from servers/workloads and then move on to implementing the model for applications (on-prem and SaaS), consoles, and CLIs. The best way to begin this journey is through a converged PAM/IGA platform with extensive connectors and an easy-to-use workflow engine.
