6 Alarming Risks of Overlooking Privileged Access Management

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Privileged accounts are more important for your business than you know. They provide extensive access to sensitive data and critical systems. Usually, admins and IT teams use these accounts, as they need broad permissions to perform their duties effectively.

However, due to their extensive access and control, privileged accounts are also a prime target for hackers. Cybercriminals see privileged accounts as gateways to valuable information and critical infrastructure. So, you must protect your privileged accounts from online threats.

Unmanaged access has caused lots of problems to various companies, including Uber. In 2022, an 18-year-old attacker breached Uber's defenses through social engineering and an "MFA fatigue" strategy.

Once inside, the hacker found a PowerShell script with privileged credentials, which provided access to Uber’s Thycotic privileged access management system. This allowed the attacker to access critical internal services, exposing significant vulnerabilities in Uber's IT infrastructure.

This is where privileged access management (PAM) comes into play. PAM is a mitigating solution that protects privileged accounts from falling into the wrong hands.

This article will discuss 6 crucial alarming risks of neglecting PAM. Make sure you read this article to the end to know more.

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TL;DR

• Privileged accounts are prime targets for cyberattacks due to their extensive access to sensitive data and systems.
• Neglecting PAM can lead to data breaches, lateral movement by attackers, and privilege escalation, causing operational and financial damage.
• Insider threats pose significant risks, especially when employees misuse their elevated access rights.
• Non-compliance with data privacy regulations can result in hefty fines and damage to your business reputation.
• Automated solutions like CloudEagle can streamline access management, user provisioning, and deprovisioning, enhancing security.

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What is Privileged Access Management?

Privileged access management is a security strategy that involves managing and securing access to critical systems and the sensitive information of privileged users. Typically, these users have elevated permissions to perform admin tasks, so keeping their access secure is a priority.

Due to their broad access and control over applications and data, privileged accounts are prime targets for cyberattacks and insider threats. If a hacker penetrates a privileged account successfully, it will prove problematic for your business.

Thus, you need to manage privileged accounts properly to protect them from outside and inside threats. Properly managing and monitoring such accounts can reduce the risk of data breaches.

Besides boosting your business’s overall security, PAM ​​can help you comply with various regulatory requirements. This is one of the most effective ways to protect your reputation and financial well-being.

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6 Risks of Overlooking Privileged Access Management

Now that you know PAM, you must know the risks of unmanaged privileged accounts. Here are the alarming signs you must know if you overlook PAM.

1. Uncontrolled Access and Data Breaches

Privileged accounts are prime targets for attackers. Do you know why? Accessing critical systems and sensitive data from these accounts is easier.

These accounts often belong to administrators, executives, and IT personnel with broad network permissions. If an attacker gains control of a privileged account, they can move laterally across the system. On top of that, most of these hackers aim to access confidential information and execute malicious activities undetected.

Let’s say an attacker infiltrates your network and finds an unmanaged privileged account. They could potentially access your financial records, customer data, intellectual property, and other sensitive information. This uncontrolled access makes it easy for cybercriminals to extract valuable data without triggering alarms.

Remember that the risk of widespread data breaches due to unmanaged privileged access is significant. Without proper controls, you cannot monitor who is accessing what data and when. This lack of visibility can lead to unauthorized access going unnoticed until it’s too late.

Let’s take the mobile payment service Cash App as an example. Their former dissatisfied employee stole 8.2 million customer’s data and was undetected for over four months. This action led to a class action lawsuit against their parent company.

So, where did Cash App went wrong? They didn’t remove the access permission of their terminated employee. Thus, the employee still had access to sensitive information even after leaving.

2. Lateral Movement and Escalation of Privileges

Neglecting privileged access management means giving hackers a chance to penetrate your business. Attackers exploit weak PAM to move laterally within a network and target valuable data. Once they compromise an account with privileged access, they can use it to access deeper infrastructure.

But that’s not all. Hackers can also escalate privileges to gain full control of critical systems. This means they can turn a minor breach into a full-blown security crisis.

They can do everything from disabling the security controls to deleting access logs. This allows them to operate undetected for extended periods, causing maximum damage.

This is where the concept of "least privilege" comes into the picture, which is crucial in preventing such scenarios. When you give users minimal access necessary, you can reduce the potential damage from compromised accounts.

Remember that least privilege is a core principle of PAM, limiting the spread and damages from an attack. Strict access controls and continuous monitoring can protect your network from lateral movement.

3. Insider Threats

Don’t forget to consider the risks posed by insider threats while protecting your business from external ones. Internal users such as employees, contractors, or business partners elevated access rights. They can maliciously or unintentionally exploit their privileges to harm your organization.

When internal users have more access than necessary, they pose significant risks. They can access sensitive information, modify critical systems, or disrupt operations.

For instance, a disgruntled employee might misuse their privileges to steal data, sabotage systems, or leak confidential information. Even well-meaning employees can make mistakes that lead to data breaches or security incidents.

Insider threats are particularly insidious because these users often already have legitimate access to your network. Thus, their activities are harder to detect. Unlike external attackers, who must breach your defenses to gain access, insiders can exploit their privileges from within, bypassing many traditional security measures.

4. Compliance Violations and Regulatory Fines

Data privacy regulations regarding robust access controls require you to implement proper measures to safeguard personal and sensitive data. Failure to do so can lead to severe consequences, both financially and reputationally.

When you neglect privileged access management, you risk non-compliance with critical regulations. Various data privacy laws mandate strict access controls to protect sensitive data. These include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Non-compliance can lead to many problems. Violating these regulations can result in hefty fines, sometimes amounting to millions of dollars.

For example, under GDPR, fines can reach up to 4% of an organization’s annual global turnover or €20 million, whichever is higher. On top of that, you may also lose your business’s reputation.

5. Operational Disruptions and Downtime

Compromised privileged accounts can affect your business’s operations. Attackers can disrupt critical processes and interfere with essential services when they gain control of these accounts. It will affect everything, from daily business functions to customer service.

A major risk of compromised privileged accounts is DDoS attacks or system outrages. Attackers can exploit their access to shut down vital systems. These actions can bring your operations to a halt, resulting in prolonged downtime.

Moreover, you will also face financial losses. When your systems are offline, you lose productivity and miss revenue opportunities. For example, a significant outage in an e-commerce platform can lead to lost sales.

The longer you take to resolve the issue, the greater the financial impact will be. Therefore, make sure you take recovery measures as soon as possible.

6. Reputation and Financial Damage

Last but not least, neglecting privileged access management can lead to severe reputation and financial damage for your organization. You will lose all your business’s credibility and customer trust.

News of a security breach spreads quickly, and the damage to your brand’s reputation can be long-lasting.

Reputation is one of your most valuable assets; a single breach can immediately affect it. Customers, partners, and stakeholders expect you to protect their information and maintain operational integrity.

Failure to do so leads to a loss of trust and can result in significant customer satisfaction.

Financially, the costs associated with a breach or operational disruption can be huge. These include direct expenses like incident response, legal fees, and regulatory fines. Additionally, there are indirect costs such as lost business opportunities, decreased stock value, and increased insurance premiums.

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The Importance of PAM and How CloudEagle Can Secure Your Stack

As mentioned earlier, implementing PAM will help you know who can access privileged accounts. This will boost your overall security posture based on access permissions. You will also know if any malicious or suspicious activity is taking place.

Here are some reasons why privileged access management is important for your business:

• You can keep account takeover attacks at bay
• Boost transparency of privileged accounts
• Stay compliant with regulations
• Reduce complicated malware attacks

But can you handle privileged access management manually, given its importance? The manual process is error-prone and time-consuming. This is where CloudEagle can assist you.

With CloudEagle’s identity and access management features, you can control user access and permissions across all your SaaS apps. This way, you can secure your SaaS stack from outside and inside threats.

Features

Elevated Access Control

When you use CloudEagle, you know which personnel are using which applications in real time. Create an application catalog so that your users can easily send requests. When you assign admins, they will properly review the requests and grant access.

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CloudEagle's self-service portal will also prove beneficial. When someone requests access, the admins will be notified by email and Slack.

App Access Tracking

CloudEagle will help you track the application logs successfully. This will prove highly beneficial during security and compliance audits. You can export the access logs directly from ClpudEagle’s intuitive dashboard.

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Thus, you can know who’s accessing which applications. You can use the access logs for further investigation in case of security breaches.

Automated User Provisioning

With our automated user provisioning, you don’t need to handle spreadsheets or depend on manual processes. When someone joins your organization, you can swiftly grant them access. The auto-provisioning workflows will help you give the app access to users according to their roles and departments.

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Here’s Alice Park from Remediant sharing her success story of how CloudEagle’s user provisioning and deprovisioning features proved beneficial for them.

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Automated User Deprovisioning

When someone leaves your organization, removing their access is extremely important. Failing to do so will pose various security risks to your business.

You can automatically deprovision users with CloudEagle. Thus, you don’t need to worry about your sensitive information being leaked or accessed by someone outside your business.

Application Recommendations

CloudEagle streamlines the process for new employees by eliminating the need for them to send application access requests and wait for approvals.

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We recommend the most suitable applications based on their department and role. This allows you to grant them immediate access, ensuring they can be productive from their first day.

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Conclusion

Cyberattacks are on the rise, and privileged access management is one of the most effective ways to protect your business. Besides safeguarding sensitive information and data, PAM can also contribute to your business’s overall security posture.  

You read six alarming risks of neglecting PAM, and we hope now you understand the consequences it can bring. So, make sure you use reliable software. Assess their features, pros, cons, and pricing to make a data-driven decision.

Do you want to manage access without any problem? Don’t forget to schedule a demo with CloudEagle and the experts will assist you.  

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