Privileged Identity Management (PIM): Definition, Importance, and Best Practices

Published on: November 28, 2022

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13 min read

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For German Version

Because compromised privileged accounts may provide an attacker access to sensitive information and vital systems, they need extra security. Furthermore, when an individual (intentionally or inadvertently) abuses their higher access, privileged accounts might result in insider threats. Preventing such security issues and preserving the confidence of stakeholders and consumers depend on the proper management of privileged accounts.

Privileged Identity Administration (PIM) is an umbrella term for all the tools and technology that are used to manage, audit, and keep track of all privileged access and user credentials. It is sometimes used to refer to the same thing as Privileged Access Management (PAM). Analysts, particularly Forrester, use the general word "PIM" to refer to the whole "PAM" domain. This difference in language highlights how versatile these methods are for protecting privileged access. PIM, a crucial part of an IT security plan, helps businesses closely monitor the activities of privileged users and protect important assets from unwanted access. This article further explores PIM's capabilities, function, and overall importance concerning identification and privileged account management.

The PIM subjects covered in the paragraph are listed below.

• What is PIM?
• How does PIM work?
• What are the PIM features?
• What is the Role of privileged identity management?
• What are the benefits of implementing just-in-time access with PIM?
• What compliance regulations does PIM help address?
• How does PIM integrate with other security tools?
• What are the key considerations when choosing a PIM solution?
• What is the difference between PIM and PAM?
• What are the challenges of implementing a PIM solution?
• What are the cost implications of adopting PIM solutions?
• How does PIM handle privileged access for remote workers?
• What is the difference between IAM and privileged identity management?
• What are the best Practices for Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?
• A Brief History of Privileged Identity Management

What is Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?

Privileged identity management is an essential part of IT security plans, which enables businesses to efficiently control privileged user access. Accounts with increased access to sensitive information or vital systems are known as privileged accounts. System administrators, database administrators, service accounts, root users, and superusers are a few types of privileged accounts. The primary goal of PIM, an identity management process, is to reduce the security threats frequently connected to privileged users' too high privileges.

To guarantee that only authorized users have access to critical systems and data, PIM systems control privileged account access through a number of crucial procedures.

Sensitive information and vital systems are more easily accessible to privileged accounts. They can cause serious harm, such as data leaks and system breakdowns, if they are hacked.

PIM can be implemented by an organization using a collection of tools and procedures or a specific, stand-alone tool. A centralized platform for creating, managing, and monitoring privileged accounts is offered by PIM solutions. They guarantee adherence to industry rules and standards and lower the danger of data breaches.

How Does PIM Work?

How do privileged identity management (PIM) technologies function specifically? What features do they provide for identity management and cybersecurity techniques for businesses? Why should your company use them?

Users and superusers are the two basic categories into which we can divide the user base of every organization. Only the data relevant to their roles inside the organization should be accessible to them (preferably under identity management). The latter's permissions, however, go far, far beyond that restriction. People with privileges could, for example, get access to important information, change workflows, get more rights, or even destroy the network.

Privileged credentials are the most often targeted by hackers for the same reason; in their hands, privileged accounts might enable hackers to carry out significant financial crimes or steal sensitive data. Also, if someone uses their login information in a bad way, they could become a serious insider threat. Thankfully, privileged identity management systems help limit the objectives of hackers. How? Read on.

• Privilege Restrictions (And Privileged Users): Not every manager should or can have privileged access; the smaller your enterprise's potential attack surface, the fewer accounts with extended rights there are. Also, even if a hacker gets into the wrong hands, they won't be able to do much damage if they only have access to a small number of resources. Therefore, the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) is enforced across all users using privileged identity management technologies. Users should only have the permissions necessary for them to carry out their tasks, according to this concept, which applies to the most powerful users on your network.

  PIM solutions assist businesses in increasing their visibility over their users as part of this enforcement. Any cybersecurity policy and identity management strategy must prioritize visibility; otherwise, you have little chance of protecting what is hidden from your view.

  Any new superuser accounts must define their rights and the justification for accepting them, as required by privileged identity management. This prevents any new account from escaping your cybersecurity standards. Additionally, superuser accounts that have previously escaped your IT staff might be discovered with the use of privilege monitoring. As a result, it can aid in preventing the growth of orphaned accounts.

  Privileged identity management technologies keep an eye out for upgrades, changes, and other changes to your IT infrastructure. This keeps unauthorized people from making changes that could put your data or operations at risk.

• Strengthened Authentication: The inadequacy of passwords is a recurring issue in cybersecurity, specifically identity management. Unfortunately, in the age of digital risks, passwords are no longer enough to protect either people or databases. Hackers can guess passwords or use simple tools to break them too easily. Weak passwords like "123456" make this even easier. If this is the case, threat actors always use social media to their advantage, basing their assumptions on publicly available information or phishing the data. In other words, single-factor authentication offers about the same level of security as an open door with a sign that reads "No Entry." Fortunately, privileged identity management technologies offer more complex authentication options, which often come in the form of multifactor authentication (MFA) features. MFA is based on the straightforward but powerful tenet that the more barriers there are between an access request and the data, the trickier it is to hack. Passwords may still be used with these capabilities, but they additionally include:

  • Biometric Authentication
  • SMS Messaging
  • Time of Access Request Monitoring
  • Behavioral Biometrics (including typing behaviors)
  • Location Monitoring (Geofencing)
  • Device Recognition

  In addition, a lot of multifactor authentication factors function in the background, activating only if they notice a mismatch, so they don't interfere with work processes or logins.

• Protecting Users But Not Just Users: You don't need users to be actual people for your network to be in trouble. Tools for managing privileged identities in the modern, next-generation era now take into account the fact that non-human entities might have their own permissions.

  Data can be moved, the network can be altered, and other things can be done by devices, apps, databases, and other programs. Hackers could easily take advantage of these security holes if they weren't monitored and limited enough, which is what PIM systems do. Furthermore, these limitations prevent malicious software from running unchecked.

  You should think about third parties. Vendors and partners, for example, may have access to privileged accounts on your network. These accounts may be used as a stepping stone by hackers if privileged identity management isn't in place.

  Tools for managing privileged identities prevent outsiders and artificial identities from transgressing the principle of least privilege.

• Session Observation and the Privilege Vault: The session monitoring recordings that are offered by next-generation privileged access management technologies are categorized into searchable information for incident response operations. Furthermore, to automatically identify and stop suspect privileged sessions, session monitoring capabilities can take advantage of user behavior analytics. During incident response, your team may evaluate a distinct sequence of events and follow the trail. Additionally, PIM tools compile all privileged accounts into a single vault. This centralizes administration efforts and secures credentials throughout the network.

What are the PIM features?

Advanced tools for managing and protecting privileged accounts with high-level rights are offered by privileged identity management (PIM) systems. Privileged identity management technologies are crucial to a strong cybersecurity architecture because of the following key characteristics:

• Privileged account discovery and inventory: PIM systems automatically find and list privileged accounts throughout the company. PIM systems secure privileged accounts in this way, preventing possible abuse of an organization's security mechanisms. Because no account is left unmonitored, illegal access cannot go undiscovered.
• Role-Based Access Control: PIM systems enforce the Principle of Least Privilege (POLP) by adopting Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), which grants each user just the rights required to carry out their duties. One important advantage of privilege is that it prevents needless access to vital systems, which is how this granular control improves security.
• Just-in-Time Access: PIM systems include Just-in-Time privilege assignment, which allows privileged accounts to be temporarily accessed only when necessary for particular activities. This minimizes exposure to possible risks by lowering the danger of extended access and guaranteeing that higher permissions are automatically removed after tasks are finished.
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): MFA requires users to authenticate using several different methods before they may access privileged accounts, which improves security. As a result, it is far more difficult for attackers to obtain illegal access.
• Audit and Monitoring: All action related to privileged accounts is tracked and recorded by PIM systems. In this way, these logs offer an audit trail for looking into any security events and ensuring that regulations are followed.
• Password Management: PIM systems are capable of managing and changing privileged account passwords. Accordingly, changing passwords on a regular basis helps guard against unwanted access brought on by stolen credentials.

What is the Role of Privileged Identity Management?

Organizations take a calculated step to improve access management accuracy and reduce the risk of privilege misuse by implementing PIM. In order to guarantee that these specialized accounts are subject to strict restrictions and follow the established access regulations, PIM is essential in the governance of service accounts. Furthermore, PIM offers an organized method for issuing and rescinding rights in the context of enhanced access, encouraging a flexible and adaptable framework that fits operational requirements. By incorporating PIM into the larger identity management plan, a strong access control framework is established, creating a proactive and safe workplace. The primary roles of Privileged Identity Management is listed below.

• "Just-in-Time" access is provided: An employee who would not typically require access can be granted temporary access so they can access the system for the purpose of completing a specific activity.
• MFA (multi-factor authentication): With MFA, the identification procedure consists of three or more levels, requiring individuals who are granted access to demonstrate their eligibility at least three times. Because of this, it is harder for a hacker to pretend to be someone who has authorized access.
• Longer access durations are granted: For example, you can grant access to a new recruit for the first sixty days of their employment. When the allotted time has passed, the access will immediately end, safeguarding your system from intrusion.
• The history of access privileges is provided: It is always possible to go back and discover who was granted what rights at what time. This can be a useful tool for identifying the breach's origin and looking at ways to stop such instances in the future.

What are the benefits of implementing just-in-time access with PIM?

Privileges can be issued just-in-time, allowing a user to access systems or applications for a brief period of time only when necessary. This keeps the attack surface from growing while yet granting users the access they require.

A basic security technique known as "just-in-time" (JIT) access restricts the privilege of accessing systems or applications at specified times only when necessary. This lessens the possibility of standing privileges being easily abused by hostile insiders or attackers.

Just-in-time access is made possible by privileged identity management in situations where a user (such as users, programs, devices, or systems) needs privileged access for a brief period of time. Numerous use cases, including audits, troubleshooting, and forensic analysis, benefit from this.

JIT access makes it easier for enterprises to handle privileged accounts. The continual requirement for password resets and recovery procedures is eliminated because there are no accounts with standing rights.

Additionally, several processes are automated, including account termination, privileged access expiration, and credential rotation. Request approval can be automated such that user requests are reviewed by the system and privileged access is granted without the need for an administrator to manually examine and approve them.

A user can view all available resources through the web application based on their job or characteristics. Once access has been granted, the user may begin their session. Access requests can be set up to be automatic or to require human approval.

What compliance regulations does PIM help address?

Privileged Identity Management (PIM) helps organizations address a variety of compliance regulations and standards by enforcing strict access controls, providing detailed audit trails, and ensuring accountability for privileged access. By implementing Privileged Identity Management, organizations can effectively address and demonstrate compliance with these regulations and standards, reducing the risk of non-compliance penalties, improving security posture, and enhancing overall governance and accountability. Some compliance regulations and standards that PIM supports are listed below.

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): PIM controls privileged access to personal data, ensuring only authorized personnel have access and provides audit trails for privileged activities and access requests, enabling compliance with GDPR accountability and transparency principles.
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): PIM restricts access to Protected Health Information (PHI) to authorized personnel only. It provides audit logs and reports to demonstrate compliance with HIPAA requirements for access monitoring and accountability.
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): PIM enforces strict controls over privileged access to cardholder data environments (CDE) and ensures compliance with PCI DSS requirements around access control, logging, monitoring, and auditing.
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX): PIM provides detailed audit trails and accountability for privileged accounts accessing financial systems and data. It offers evidence of internal controls over financial reporting, supporting SOX compliance.
• Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA): PIM implements strong access controls and accountability for privileged users. It provides detailed logs and reporting to demonstrate compliance with FISMA requirements for access management and monitoring.
• ISO/IEC 27001: PIM supports compliance with ISO 27001 Annex A controls related to access control, logging, monitoring, and review. It enables organizations to demonstrate adherence to best practices for privileged account management and security.
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework: PIM aligns with NIST recommendations for managing privileged access, identity management, and monitoring. It helps organizations meet NIST CSF requirements for access control, audit logging, and risk management.
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) / California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA): PIM restricts and tracks privileged access to consumer personal information. It provides detailed audit trails and accountability, helping organizations comply with CCPA/CPRA privacy requirements.
• SOC 2 (Service Organization Control 2): PIM demonstrates strong internal controls around privileged access management. It provides evidence to auditors of effective access controls and monitoring practices.
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA): PIM implements strict controls for privileged access to customer financial data. It provides detailed audit trails and monitoring to support GLBA compliance requirements.
• Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC): PIM supports privileged access management controls required at various maturity levels. It provides detailed logging, accountability, and restricted access aligned with CMMC standards.

How does PIM integrate with other security tools?

Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is tightly integrated with a variety of security tools and technologies, resulting in a unified security ecosystem that improves visibility, control, and automation. By integrating Privileged Identity Management with other security tools, organizations can establish a layered, robust security framework that significantly reduces risk, improves compliance, and maximizes overall security effectiveness. The following is an explanation of the integration of PIM with other security tools:

• Identity and Access Management (IAM): PIM and IAM integration provides centralized identity management and uniform enforcement of access policies for both privileged and non-privileged accounts.
• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): PIM and SIEM integration provides real-time monitoring and alerting on privileged account activities. It improves visibility by utilizing correlated event recordings and analytics.
• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): PIM and EDR integration detects suspicious privileged activities on endpoints. It prompts response and remediation of endpoint-level threats that involve privileged accounts.
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): PIM and MFA integration provides an additional layer of security for privileged access requests and minimizes the dangers associated with compromised credentials.
• Privileged Access Management (PAM): PIM and PAM integration securely manages privileged credentials, sessions, and secrets. It facilitates detailed session monitoring and just-in-time access.
• Vulnerability Management Tools: PIM and vulnerability management tools identifies privileged accounts and systems that require immediate upgrading or remediation. It improves the prioritization of vulnerabilities based on the risk of privileged access.
• Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM): PIM and CSPM integration monitors privileged identities and access in cloud environments. It aids in the identification of unauthorized privileged access and misconfigurations in cloud infrastructure.
• Incident Response and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR): PIM and SOAR integration automates the response to privileged access incidents. It facilitates the rapid implementation of remediation measures, including the revocation of privileged access or the rotation of credentials.
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Solutions: PIM and DLP integration monitors privileged user activities related to sensitive data access and movement. It prevents privileged users from leaking or exfiltrating unauthorized data.

What are the key considerations when choosing a PIM solution?

It is crucial to evaluate a variety of critical factors when selecting a Privileged Identity Management (PIM) solution to guarantee that it aligns with the operational, compliance, and security requirements of your organization. The primary factors to take into account when selecting a PIM solutions are listed below.

• Just-in-Time (JIT) Access: Support for temporary, on-demand privileged access.
• Session Management: Capacity to monitor, document, and audit privileged sessions.
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Integration with MFA solutions to ensure privileged access.
• Credential Management: The secure vaulting, rotation, and management of privileged credentials and secrets.
• Compliance Standards: Compliance with regulatory standards, including but not limited to GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and SOX.
• Audit Trails and Reporting: Comprehensive recording and reporting capabilities to substantiate compliance.
• Scalability: The capacity to increase in size as the organization expands, allowing for the management of a greater number of privileged identities and access requests.
• Performance: Minimal latency or outage, ensuring reliability and responsiveness under peak loading.
• Ease of Use: Intuitive user interfaces and workflows that facilitate adoption and reduce training requirements.
• Compatibility: Capacity to seamlessly integrate with existing security tools, identity providers, and IT systems.
• APIs and Connectors: The availability of APIs, connectors, and integrations with other security solutions (e.g., IAM, SIEM, PAM, SOAR).
• Cloud and Hybrid Environment Support: The ability to manage privileged identities across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments with flexibility.
• Customization Options: Capacity to customize protocols, policies, and reporting to satisfy specific organizational needs.
• Self-Service Capabilities: Enabling users to request privileged access with minimal administrative overhead quickly and effortlessly.
• Administrative Efficiency: Features that streamline policy enforcement, administration, and reporting.
• Deployment Options: The availability of deployment models (cloud-based, on-premises, hybrid).
• Time-to-Value: Rapid deployment and configuration to realize security benefits.
• Maintenance and Support: The availability of vendor support, maintenance, and enhancements to guarantee ongoing security and compliance.
• Integration with SOAR: Capacity to integrate with Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response solutions for incident response automation.
• Workflow Automation: Support for automated workflows for privileged access requests, approvals, and provisioning.
• Market Reputation: The reputation and recognition of the vendor by industry analysts (e.g., Gartner, Forrester).
• Financial Stability: The vendor's financial health and long-term viability.
• Customer References: The availability of customer testimonials, case studies, and references.
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): A comprehensive assessment of the initial costs, licensing fees, implementation, training, and ongoing maintenance expenses.
• Return on Investment (ROI): Evaluation of the solution's cost-effectiveness and long-term value.
• Licensing Model: Assessment of the licensing structure (perpetual, subscription-based, user-based).
• Technical Support: The quality and availability of technical support services provided by vendors.
• Training Resources: The availability of documentation, training programs, certifications, and knowledge bases to aid in the implementation and adoption of the system.
• Policy Flexibility: Provision of support for granular access control policies that are consistent with the security policies of the organization.
• Product Roadmap: Vendor's dedication to continuous product development, innovation, and updates.
• Emerging Technology Support: Capacity to adjust to new security practices, platforms, and technologies.

What is the difference between PIM and PAM?

Although maintaining and safeguarding privileged accounts is the focus of both PIM and PAM, PAM goes above and beyond PIM by providing further features like session recording, secure passwordless remote access, and just-in-time permission assignment.

The creation, upkeep, and termination of accounts with elevated rights are all included in PIM's focus on protecting and maintaining the identities of privileged accounts. Finding privileged accounts, managing their lifespan, and implementing access restrictions to restrict access to just authorized persons or groups are all common tasks supported by PIM solutions.

Since PAM solutions offer a wider variety of features for maintaining and safeguarding privileged accounts, PAM may be thought of as a superset of PIM. PAM offers further features including session recording capabilities, secure passwordless remote access, and just-in-time permission assignment. Granular control over privileged access is made possible by PAM solutions, which enable businesses to keep an eye on and verify privileged access in real time as well as identify and address questionable conduct.

Actually, two important cybersecurity strategies that control resource access are privileged identity management (PIM) and privileged access management (PAM). PIM focuses on a user's access, describing their identification, access, and pre-existing permissions. On the other hand, PAM places more emphasis on controlling and keeping an eye on access when users request it. Essentially, PAM manages requests for on-the-fly resource access, whereas PIM defines authorized permissions.

Resource management and identifying the roles or characteristics that influence a user's access to certain resources are the main goals of PIM. One PIM-related policy is figuring out which resources a new hire needs to have access to during onboarding.

PAM, on the other hand, focuses on the security tools and rules that assist businesses in storing and encrypting credentials, determining if users are authorized to access certain resources, and offering a safe means for authorized users to access vital tools, data, and systems. By enabling organizations to temporarily provide access to support user processes without needlessly generating new static user credentials, PAM solutions assist teams in adhering to least-privilege standards.

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PIM	PAM
Focuses on resource management	Places a strong emphasis on protecting resources by limiting access to them to specific, verified individuals.
Emphasizes which user identities are granted specific access privileges.	Emphasizes monitoring features to stop unwanted access.
Based on certain responsibilities or qualities, establish the parameters of the access required for each user identification. May concentrate on allocating access to keep administrators or superusers from wielding excessive authority.	Decides how to authenticate users, grant safe access to resources, and grant users who wouldn't typically have access just-in-time escalated access.

Table 1. PIM vs. PAM

What are the challenges of implementing a PIM solution?

The security posture of your organization can be substantially enhanced by the implementation of a Privileged Identity Management (PIM) solution; however, there are numerous obstacles to it. It is possible to effectively plan and guarantee a successful deployment by comprehending these concepts in advance. The primary challenges that organizations frequently encounter when implementing a PIM solution are as follows.

• Scope and Complexity: Privileged identities frequently exist in a variety of systems, applications, cloud environments, and infrastructure. The identification and management of all of these identities can be a time-consuming and intricate process.
• Cultural Change and User Resistance: Users, particularly IT administrators, may resist changes as a result of perceived disruptions or diminished autonomy. You should ensure that the security benefits and risks addressed by PIM are communicated clearly.
• Integration with Existing Systems: The integration of PIM solutions with legacy applications, security tools (SIEM, IAM, PAM, MFA), and identity management systems can be a difficult task. During the selection process, you should assess the compatibility and integration capabilities of PIM solutions.
• Security and Usability in Balance: It can be challenging to achieve the appropriate equilibrium between user convenience and security controls. Productivity and adoption may be impeded by excessively restrictive policies. You should consistently seek user feedback to enhance policies and procedures.
• Resource Requirements and Cost: Dedicated resources, expertise, and budget allocation are necessary for the implementation and maintenance of a PIM solution. When selecting a solution, it is important to take into account the long-term ROI and the total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Performance and Scalability: Guaranteeing that the PIM solution scales effectively as your organization expands, without compromising performance or reliability. You should proactively resolve bottlenecks and conduct regular performance monitoring.
• Definition and Enforcement of Policy: It can be difficult to establish consistent, effective policies for privileged access in a variety of organizational units, responsibilities, and environments. You should conduct consistent policy reviews and refinements in response to feedback and changing security requirements.
• Audit and Compliance Requirements: The successful implementation of a variety of regulatory and compliance standards, including GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and others, necessitates the accumulation of detailed evidence, auditing, and reporting. You should choose a PIM solution that has the ability to conduct comprehensive audits and reports.
• Ensuring Operational Continuity: The implementation of PIM controls may inadvertently disrupt critical IT operations if not monitored carefully. You should schedule deployments during maintenance intervals or low-usage periods, and plan implementation phases meticulously.
• Vendor Selection and Dependence: It can be challenging to choose a vendor that is in accordance with your long-term strategy and to prevent vendor lock-in. You should assess the functionality, integration capabilities, support, financial stability, and roadmap of multiple vendors.
• Continuous Support and Maintenance: PIM solutions necessitate continuous maintenance, updates, policy modifications, and user assistance, which can place a significant burden on internal resources. You should allocate dedicated resources or managed services for ongoing maintenance and support.
• Emerging Technologies and Environments: The rapid adoption of cloud services, DevOps, containers, and microservices has introduced new complexities in privileged identity management. You should ensure that policies are updated in accordance with industry standards.

Challenge Area	Key Challenge	Recommended Mitigation Strategies
Complexity and Scope	Privileged identity discovery and management complexity	Phased deployment, prioritization, thorough discovery
User Resistance	Cultural resistance and user pushback	Early engagement, communication, training, user feedback
Integration	Difficulty integrating with existing systems	Early technical involvement, vendor compatibility evaluation
Security vs. Usability	Balancing strong security with user convenience	Adaptive policies, streamlined workflows, user feedback
Resources and Cost	Resource allocation, costs, and budgeting	Clear scoping, TCO analysis, executive sponsorship
Scalability and Performance	Ensuring scalability and reliability	Stress testing, capacity planning, performance monitoring
Policy Definition	Defining consistent, effective policies	Stakeholder involvement, standardized policy frameworks
Compliance and Auditing	Meeting regulatory compliance requirements	Robust auditing/reporting, compliance mapping
Operational Continuity	Avoiding disruption of IT operations	Careful planning, testing, contingency and rollback plans
Vendor Selection	Choosing the right vendor and avoiding lock-in	Multiple vendor evaluation, references, clear contracts
Maintenance and Support	Ongoing maintenance and administrative overhead	Dedicated resources, managed services, clear responsibilities
Emerging Technologies	Adapting to new technologies and environments	Future-proof solutions, regular reassessment, best practices

Table 2.. Overview of PIM Challenges and Mitigation Strategies

What are the cost implications of adopting PIM solutions?

There are numerous cost factors to consider when implementing a Privileged Identity Management (PIM) solution. Your organization can effectively budget, manage expectations, and ensure a strong return on investment (ROI) by comprehending these upfront. The following are the primary cost implications of implementing and operating a PIM solution.

• Expenses Associated with Software Licensing: Initial license fees, subscription fees, and optional features costs.
• Professional Services: Fees for vendor-provided or third-party consulting services to aid in the configuration, deployment, and integration of the system.
• Internal Labor Costs: The time and resources necessary for the internal IT, security, and operations teams to support deployment efforts.
• Costs of Infrastructure: Server hardware, storage, networking equipment, and associated infrastructure are required for on-premises deployments. Cloud infrastructure costs (compute, storage, networking, and associated services) for cloud-hosted deployments.
• Integration with Existing Systems: The expenses associated with the integration of PIM with identity management systems (IAM), SIEM, MFA, PAM, SOAR, and other security tools.
• Administrator educating: The cost of educating the internal IT and security teams that are responsible for managing the solution.
• End-User Training: The expenses associated with the development and distribution of training programs for users who require privileged access. Workshops, internal training materials, and ongoing education initiatives may be included.
• Maintenance and Support Fees: Annual maintenance contracts or support agreements with the vendor.
• Compliance Management: Costs associated with the preparation of audits, the collection of evidence, and the generation of reports to ensure that they comply with regulatory standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, etc.).
• Future Expansion: The costs of scaling the solution as the organization expands, which may include increased subscription fees, infrastructure enhancements, or additional licenses.
• Incident Management: The expenses for investigating, remediating, and reporting privileged identity-related security incidents. By enhancing response efficacy and minimizing incidents, a well-implemented PIM solution can substantially reduce these costs.
• Impacts on User Productivity: Potential productivity loss occurring during initial implementation or as a result of excessively restrictive policies.

How does PIM handle privileged access for remote workers?

Privileged Identity Management (PIM) effectively manages privileged access for remote workers by ensuring secure, controlled, and auditable access to sensitive resources, irrespective of the user's location. Privileged access management ensures secure connectivity by integrating with VPNs, secure gateways, or Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solutions. This integration offers encrypted, secure channels for remote privileged sessions, thereby preventing unauthorized access or interception.

PIM may implement policies that restrict or monitor privileged access based on geographic location or IP address.

PIM and EDR solutions can work together to find and stop strange activities or attempts to gain more rights on remote computers.

PIM solutions may continuously verify user identity, device health, and context before granting access, in accordance with Zero Trust principles. They conduct routine reassessments and verifications of remote privileged sessions to guarantee ongoing adherence to security policies. These solutions enhance productivity by providing remote workers with intuitive interfaces and streamlined processes to request and initiate privileged sessions. They are easily integrated with SSO solutions to enhance the user experience and facilitate authentication for remote privileged access.

What is the difference between IAM and privileged identity management?

The terms PIM, PAM, and IAM are frequently used interchangeably, even though this is not appropriate. These ideas cover a wide range of security topics that work together to protect an organization's systems and data. A comparison of PIM and IAM is given below.

IAM, which includes procedures, technology, and rules for controlling user identities and access privileges inside a company, is the cornerstone of identity and access security. It guarantees that certain resources may only be accessed by authorized and verified individuals. IAM encompasses managing privileged users in addition to all other user categories, such as partners, customers, and workers.

The identities of privileged accounts, those with enhanced access, including system administrators and database managers, are the special emphasis of PIM. The full lifespan of privileged identities, including their formation, upkeep, and deletion, is managed by PIM systems. Organizations can implement stringent access controls to restrict the use of privileged accounts to authorized persons and obtain insight into these accounts through the use of privileged identity management solutions.

Organizations may better manage and restrict user rights with the use of PIM solutions. PIM solutions aid in limiting unwanted access by precisely regulating which users have access to which resources. They lower the chance of data breaches as a result. PIM primarily concentrates on the authentication procedure inside IAM.

PIM solutions can aid in boosting productivity. Authorized users can more easily obtain the materials they require with the help of an effective PIM system. A subset of privileged access management is privileged identity management.

The most complete method for identity management is generally provided by IAM solutions. IAM controls all users' access to the data and systems they require. In addition to PIM and PAM, it offers other functionalities, including identity federation and identity lifecycle management (ILM).

Key Role of IAM	Key Role of PIM
oversees the organization's digital identities.	identifies, controls, and protects privileged identities.
regulates who has access to certain apps and systems.	enforces rules for managing privileged accounts throughout their existence.
determines users' access permissions and authenticates them by enforcing regulations.	restricts access to privileged identities in order to stop illegal usage.
Private Identity Management and Private Access Management provide extra, specialized security layers on top of IAM, which is the most comprehensive of the three.	By ensuring that privileged accounts are properly managed, PIM lowers the possibility of abuse or illegal access that can result in insider threats or data breaches.

Table 3. IAM vs PIM

What are the Best Practices for Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?

Mismanagement of access to privileged accounts, or failure to manage them at all, which is a sin committed by a startling 65% of firms, may result in anything from security lapses and legal repercussions to consumer backlash and irreparable reputational harm. According to research by the National Cyber Security Alliance, 60% of SMBs close their doors within six months following a cyber attack. In other situations, it can even result in extinction.

As a result, developing, implementing, and maintaining a strong PIM system is not an option. It must be a top priority for businesses of all sizes; otherwise, it may not be a question of if but rather of when they will come under assault and how severe it will be. Gartner and Centrify have partnered together to highlight best practices for developing an extensive PIM system to help security and risk management professionals. These best practices for deploying a successful PIM are as follows:

• To make sure that access is appropriate, in line with acceptable risk levels, and conforms with regulatory requirements, identify and assess all privileged accounts and end users.

• Make sure that access to privileged accounts adheres to the principle of least privilege (POLP), which grants end users just the access necessary for them to do their tasks.

• Maintain rigorous rules for sharing credentials and continuously monitor all privileged account activity.

• Utilize appropriate PIM/PAM tools and technologies, and use high-trust authentication techniques for privileged access. Devolutions is one of a small group of providers that Gartner researchers have identified as successfully supplying an alternate method to reduce the risks associated with privileged access, or as offering a set of specialized and in-depth capabilities to supplement current PAM deployment.

• To satisfy continuous regulatory requirements, enhance and expand privileged identity management with access governance restrictions (e.g. requiring account owners to certify that they still require privileged access after a period of time).

PIM is a great way to avoid situations of too much privilege because it makes it less likely that an attacker will be able to get privileged access. However, efficient segregation of duties (SoD) must also be taken into account to prevent allowing some users to wear "too many hats" at work, which might expose the company to a variety of hazards. Hackers have access to all of these users' accounts if just one of them is hacked. In a similar way, when multiple people share responsibilities, it's likely that privileged access to the systems will be revealed if one of them is hacked.

A Brief History of Privileged Identity Management

Due to typical IAM systems' inability to closely regulate, manage and report on user access to distant servers, databases, network hardware, and important applications, the idea of privileged identity management first developed in the middle of the 2000s. The majority of crucial resources inside an IT business were on-prem and ran on the Windows Operating System (OS) before PIM solutions were necessary.

Due to Windows OS's dominance, IT administrators were able to efficiently administer their whole network from a single, centralized place on-prem using legacy technology, particularly Active Directory. However, with the advent of cloud servers, virtual databases, remote network equipment, and online applications, to mention a few, everything changed in the early 2000s.

Active Directory was created with on-premises networks with Windows-based IT resources in mind. As a result, it was challenging to directly manage new technologies that were neither Windows-based nor on-prem using AD alone.

IT departments still required a mechanism to manage user access to vital resources like the ones mentioned before, ideally from a single central place. This problem created an opportunity for supplementary programs like Privileged Identity Management, which might extend established identities to previously unsupported IT systems.

PIM solutions continue to play a crucial role in the infrastructure of conventional, on-premise identity management. IT administrators are seeking next-generation identity management solutions that don't necessitate a significant investment in on-premise equipment and add-ons as more of this old IT infrastructure migrates to the cloud. How, therefore, can you continue to make use of privileged identity management without using an established identity provider or anything on-premises? Simple: pick a complete cloud-based directory services platform with PIM capabilities as its primary offering.