Privileged Access Management (PAM) is critical in safeguarding an organization's sensitive data and systems. With cybercriminals becoming more sophisticated, managing and monitoring privileged accounts is no longer optional but a necessity.
Privileged access management best practices include discovering all privileged accounts, applying least privilege, replacing standing access with just in time access, using MFA, rotating credentials, monitoring privileged sessions, reviewing access regularly, and securing both human and non human identities.
This post explores the best practices in PAM that businesses should adopt to enhance their cybersecurity posture and protect their most valuable assets.
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Privileged Access Management is a cornerstone of a robust cybersecurity strategy, focusing on the special requirements of managing privileged accounts that hold higher access within an organization. These accounts are often targeted by attackers due to the unrestricted access they can provide to an organization's most sensitive data and critical infrastructure. Implementing best practices in PAM is essential to minimize risks and ensure that the access to these accounts is secure and compliant with regulatory standards.
A comprehensive PAM strategy should include rigorous access controls, real-time monitoring, and regular auditing to track and manage privileged access effectively.
Explore a quick checklist on best PAM practices below.
| Best practice | What it means |
| Discover all privileged accounts | Identify admin accounts, service accounts, shared accounts, emergency accounts, and privileged access paths. |
| Apply least privilege | Give users only the access they need to do their job. |
| Use just in time access | Grant privileged access only when needed and remove it automatically after use. |
| Use MFA for privileged access | Add stronger verification before users access critical systems. |
| Rotate privileged credentials | Change passwords, keys, and secrets regularly to reduce credential exposure. |
| Reduce shared account use | Avoid shared admin accounts where possible and improve accountability. |
| Monitor privileged sessions | Record and review privileged activity to detect misuse or suspicious behaviour. |
| Review access regularly | Check whether users still need privileged access after role or team changes. |
| Secure machine identities | Include service accounts, automation, API tokens, and CI/CD tools in PAM governance. |
| Keep audit trails | Maintain clear records of who accessed what, when, and why. |
| Prepare break glass access | Create a controlled emergency access process for incidents or outages. |
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A strong PAM strategy should define how privileged access is requested, approved, granted, monitored, and reviewed. It should also identify which systems, accounts, and users carry the highest risk.
A clear strategy helps security teams avoid inconsistent access decisions and makes privileged access management easier to scale across cloud, hybrid, and on premises environments.
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Before organizations can secure privileged access, they need to know where privileged accounts exist. This includes administrator accounts, root accounts, database admin accounts, service accounts, emergency accounts, local accounts, and shared accounts.
Discovery is one of the most important PAM best practices because unknown privileged accounts can become security blind spots.
Privileged account discovery should include:
Least privilege means users should only have the access they need, for the task they need to complete, and only for as long as necessary. This reduces the damage that can happen if an account is compromised or misused.
In PAM, least privilege should apply to administrators, developers, third-party users, service accounts, and other identities with elevated access.
To apply least privilege:
Standing access means users have privileged access all the time, even when they do not need it. This creates unnecessary risk because compromised accounts can immediately be used to access critical systems.
Just in time access reduces this risk by granting privileged access only when needed, for a limited time, and often with approval or additional verification.
| Standing access | Just-in-time access |
| Access is always available | Access is granted only when needed |
| Higher risk if account is compromised | Lower risk because access expires |
| Harder to justify during audits | Easier to document and review |
| Can lead to excessive permissions | Supports least privilege |
Shared privileged accounts create accountability problems because multiple users may access the same account. If something goes wrong, it can be difficult to know who performed a specific action.
Where possible, shared accounts should be removed and replaced with individual access. Where they cannot be removed, organizations should add strong controls such as approval workflows, session monitoring, credential rotation, and detailed audit logs.
To manage shared accounts:
MFA adds an extra layer of protection before privileged access is granted. This is especially important for administrator accounts, remote access, cloud consoles, and access to critical infrastructure.
For high-risk access, organizations can also use step up authentication, where users must provide additional verification before sensitive actions are allowed.
Credential rotation helps reduce the risk of stolen or exposed privileged credentials being reused. PAM best practices should cover passwords, SSH keys, API tokens, secrets, and other credentials used by both humans and machines.
Organizations should also avoid hard coded credentials in scripts, applications, and automation workflows.
Credential security should include:
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Session monitoring gives security teams visibility into what privileged users are doing after access is granted. This helps detect suspicious activity, investigate incidents, and support compliance requirements.
Session recording can also improve accountability by showing what happened during privileged access sessions.
Privileged session monitoring can help track:
Privileged access should not be granted once and forgotten. Regular access reviews help confirm whether users still need elevated permissions.
Access should be reviewed after role changes, employee departures, team changes, project completion, incidents, or changes to critical systems.
Access reviews should check:
PAM best practices should cover more than human administrators. Service accounts, automation scripts, API tokens, bots, and CI/CD tools can also hold privileged access.
These non human identities can become security blind spots if they are not discovered, monitored, and reviewed. Organizations should understand what access they have, rotate their credentials, and remove unnecessary permissions.
Non human identities may include:
PAM works best when it connects with the wider security and IT environment. Integrations with IAM, SIEM, ITSM, ticketing systems, and cloud platforms help teams manage access requests, monitor activity, and respond to incidents more effectively.
For example, PAM can use IAM data to understand user roles, SIEM tools to detect suspicious activity, and ITSM tools to manage access approvals.
Useful PAM integrations include:
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Break glass access is emergency access used when normal access processes are unavailable, such as during outages, incidents, or urgent recovery situations.
This access should be limited, approved where possible, monitored, logged, and reviewed after use. Without proper controls, emergency access can become another unmanaged privileged access risk.
Break glass access should be:
The most important privileged access management best practices include discovering all privileged accounts, applying least privilege, using just in time access, protecting credentials, monitoring privileged sessions, reviewing access regularly, and securing machine and non human identities.
These practices help reduce the risk of credential theft, excessive permissions, insider misuse, and unmanaged administrator access.
Privileged access should be reviewed regularly, especially after role changes, employee departures, project changes, security incidents, or changes to critical systems.
Many organizations review privileged access on a monthly, quarterly, or risk-based schedule. High-risk access should usually be reviewed more often than standard access.
Least privilege is important because it limits what users can access and what actions they can perform. This reduces the potential damage if an account is compromised or misused.
In PAM, least privilege helps ensure that administrators, developers, third-party users, and service accounts only receive the access they need for a specific task or role.
Shared privileged accounts should be removed where possible and replaced with individual named accounts. This improves accountability because each action can be tied to a specific user.
If shared accounts cannot be removed, they should be protected with approval workflows, credential rotation, MFA, session monitoring, and detailed audit logs.
Non human identities such as service accounts, API tokens, automation scripts, bots, and CI/CD tools can hold privileged access. If they are not managed properly, they can become hidden security risks.
Including non human identities in PAM helps organizations discover their access, rotate credentials, monitor activity, and remove unnecessary permissions.
Session monitoring helps security teams see what happens after privileged access is granted. It can show who accessed a system, when the session happened, what actions were taken, and whether any activity looked suspicious.
This supports incident investigation, compliance, audit readiness, and user accountability.
Credential rotation means regularly changing privileged passwords, keys, secrets, or tokens to reduce the risk of stolen or exposed credentials being reused.
In PAM, credential rotation is especially important for administrator accounts, service accounts, shared accounts, SSH keys, and automation workflows.
Just in time access grants privileged access only when it is needed, for a specific task, and for a limited time.
This reduces standing privileges and lowers the risk that compromised accounts can be used to access critical systems.
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