What is privileged access management and who has the keys to your kingdom?

Every organization has accounts with elevated access - accounts that can install software, access sensitive data, modify security settings, create other accounts, and essentially do anything on your network. These are your privileged accounts.

They’re also exactly what attackers are after.

80% of security breaches involve compromised privileged credentials. When an attacker gets the keys to your kingdom, they don’t need to hack anything else - they just walk through every door.

What Are Privileged Accounts?

Privileged accounts are any accounts with elevated permissions beyond a standard user. They come in several forms:

Account Type	Example	Risk Level
Domain Admin	Full control over Active Directory and all domain-joined systems	Critical
Local Admin	Administrative access to individual workstations or servers	High
Root Account	Full control of Linux/Unix servers or cloud environments	Critical
Cloud Admin	Global admin in Microsoft 365, AWS root, Azure admin	Critical
Service Account	Application-to-application connections running with elevated rights	High
Database Admin	Full access to databases containing sensitive business data	High
Network Admin	Access to configure firewalls, switches, and network infrastructure	High
Break-Glass Account	Emergency access accounts used when normal access fails	Critical

The Hidden Inventory

Most organizations significantly underestimate how many privileged accounts exist. The typical findings when conducting a privileged account audit:

• Shared admin accounts used by multiple IT staff with the same password
• Service accounts with passwords that haven’t been changed in years
• Former employee accounts that were never disabled
• Vendor accounts with persistent elevated access
• Default accounts that were never renamed or secured
• Orphaned accounts from decommissioned systems that are still active in directory services

On average, organizations in 2025 granted privileged access to about 20 external parties (vendors, contractors, service providers) - each one a potential attack vector.

Why Attackers Target Privileged Accounts

Privileged accounts are the ultimate prize because they provide:

Persistence - admin accounts can create backdoor accounts, disable security tools, and establish hidden access that survives reboots and password changes.

Lateral movement - domain admin credentials can access any system on the network, turning a single compromised account into full network compromise.

Data access - privileged accounts bypass the access controls that protect sensitive data from normal users.

Covering tracks - admin accounts can delete logs, modify audit trails, and disable monitoring to hide the attacker’s presence.

Real-World Impact

• 53% of breaches in 2025 involved the use of stolen credentials
• Nearly 40% of data breaches specifically involved privileged accounts
• Breaches involving privileged accounts cost $4.50 million on average - higher than the overall average of $4.35 million
• 80% of organizations experienced a privileged access policy violation in the past year

The Oracle Cloud breach in 2025 demonstrated the stakes: attackers stole 6 million records including passwords, keystores, and access keys for 140,000+ tenants. Privileged access controls could have limited the damage dramatically.

What Is Privileged Access Management (PAM)?

PAM is a set of practices and technologies for controlling, monitoring, and securing privileged access across your organization. It answers three fundamental questions:

1. Who has privileged access? (Discovery and inventory)
2. Do they need it? (Governance and justification)
3. Are they using it appropriately? (Monitoring and enforcement)

Core PAM Capabilities

Privileged Account Discovery

Automatically find all privileged accounts across your environment - including ones IT doesn’t know about. This is consistently the most eye-opening step for organizations implementing PAM.

Password Vaulting

Store privileged credentials in an encrypted vault rather than in spreadsheets, sticky notes, or shared documents. The vault rotates passwords automatically and provides them only when authorized.

Just-in-Time (JIT) Access

Instead of permanent admin access, users request elevated privileges for a specific task and timeframe. Access is granted, monitored, and automatically revoked when the task is complete or the time window expires.

Organizations using JIT functionality reduced policy violations by 44%. If admin access doesn’t exist when it’s not needed, it can’t be compromised.

Session Monitoring and Recording

Record privileged sessions (commands entered, screens displayed) for audit and forensic purposes. This provides accountability and enables investigation if something goes wrong.

Least Privilege Enforcement

Ensure users have only the minimum privileges needed for their specific role. A help desk technician doesn’t need domain admin access just to reset passwords.

Getting Started with PAM

You don’t need an enterprise PAM platform to start improving privileged access security. Here’s a practical approach for SMBs:

Step 1: Inventory Your Privileged Accounts

Identify every account with elevated access:

• Domain administrator accounts
• Local administrator accounts on workstations and servers
• Cloud admin accounts (Microsoft 365 Global Admin, Azure/AWS)
• Service accounts and application accounts
• Database administrator accounts
• Network equipment admin accounts (firewalls, switches)
• Vendor and contractor accounts with elevated access
• Break-glass or emergency access accounts

Document who has access to each, when the password was last changed, and whether MFA is enabled.

Step 2: Enforce MFA on All Privileged Accounts

61% of organizations have at least one root user or account owner without MFA. This is the single highest-impact action you can take.

Every privileged account should require multi-factor authentication. No exceptions. If an account can’t support MFA, it needs to be replaced with one that can.

Step 3: Eliminate Shared Admin Accounts

If three IT staff members share the same “admin” account:

• You can’t tell who did what in audit logs
• When one person leaves, you have to change the password for everyone
• Accountability is impossible

Each administrator should have their own named privileged account (e.g., admin.jsmith) separate from their daily user account.

Step 4: Implement the Principle of Least Privilege

Review each privileged account and ask: “Does this account need all of these permissions?”

• Help desk staff need password reset ability, not domain admin
• Developers need admin access to development servers, not production
• Vendors need access to specific systems, not your entire network

Reduce permissions to the minimum required for each role.

Step 5: Rotate Passwords and Remove Stale Accounts

• Change privileged account passwords on a regular schedule (quarterly minimum)
• Disable accounts for departed employees immediately (not “when we get around to it”)
• Remove vendor access when engagements end
• Audit service accounts for necessity - many run with elevated access from initial setup and never get reduced

Step 6: Monitor and Alert

Configure alerting for:

• Privileged account logins outside business hours
• Privileged access from unusual locations
• Multiple failed login attempts on admin accounts
• Changes to privileged group memberships
• New admin accounts created
• Security tools disabled by admin accounts

The PAM Implementation Challenge

The industry recognizes PAM is hard. 56% of IT leaders have tried to deploy PAM systems but failed to reach their objectives, primarily due to complexity. 58% of CISOs want better PAM but find solutions too expensive.

For SMBs, the key is starting with practices and policies before investing in platforms:

1. Manual inventory and accountability (free)
2. MFA on privileged accounts (low cost)
3. Named admin accounts replacing shared ones (free)
4. Least privilege review (time investment)
5. Password rotation procedures (time investment)
6. PAM platform (when scale justifies the investment)

Organizations that adopted a unified PAM approach were 72% less likely to have active privileged accounts for terminated users - a common and dangerous oversight.

The Bottom Line

Your privileged accounts are the most valuable targets in your environment. Attackers know this, which is why stolen credentials remain the most common attack vector year after year.

You don’t need an expensive PAM platform to start protecting privileged access. Inventory your admin accounts, enforce MFA on all of them, eliminate shared credentials, apply least privilege, and monitor for suspicious activity.

The question every business should answer today: “Who has the keys to our kingdom, and are we sure they should?”

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Want to assess your privileged access security? Contact us for an access control review that identifies gaps and recommends practical improvements.