Alex - stock.adobe.com
CISO's guide to privileged identity management
IAM is more crucial than ever in the AI era. To better control who -- and what -- is accessing systems and data, security teams need to move beyond standing access privileges.
Organizations are leaning into zero trust, a framework that assumes no entity can access a specific asset until they have been verified, validated and authorized. This approach makes privileged identity management, or PIM, an increasingly important resource.
PIM supplants permanent access rights with provisional, sanctioned and audited access. This granular control gives the user or device access to precisely what they need to complete a task -- no more, no less.
This is important because credential theft or misuse was the root cause in 32% of breaches, according to IBM's "X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2026." Threat actors rely on penetrating a system and then traversing multiple attack vectors to exploit vulnerabilities on other systems. This lateral movement was found in 87% of all breaches, Palo Alto Networks reported in its "Global Incidents Response Report 2026." Lateral movement attacks use stolen credentials and administrative tools, such as remote desktop protocol and PowerShell, to find network passwords and execute commands.
Security teams can counter this threat with PIM, putting precise, temporary privileged access controls in place. PIM, which comprises policy, workflow, enforcement and logging, uses processes and tools to administer, protect and examine accounts and permissions, including domain admins, cloud subscription owners and root access. It ensures users and devices attempting to access a system gain entry only to exactly what they need and are denied permanent privileges.
How privileged identity management works
PIM tools start by discovering privileged users, roles, groups, API keys, service accounts and SSH keys. Tools also locate where those things are stored, such as in Active Directory, databases and cloud environments. The tools then identify effective privilege, the sum of which assets an entity needs access to function in its role. This extends to nested groups.
To establish governance, PIM manages administrative roles. End users are not given specific rights. Instead, they are deemed eligible for future access when necessary. Privileged access is time-bound and temporary. When users need to perform a privileged task, they log into the PIM console and ask to initiate their role.
Access permissions are granted according to policy tied to requirements. These could include device compliance, manager approval, network location, risk signals and MFA. Access expires automatically.
For audit purposes, PIM tools log all events from the time of the initial request through the time of expiration. PIM applies controlled techniques to maintain secure access paths, including privileged access workstations, secure portals and bastions. To protect privileged information, PIM moves passwords and keys and stores confidential data, access policies and audit trails in a hardened vault.
PIM benefits and challenges
PIM boosts an organization's security in several ways. By limiting access, PIM reduces the likelihood that credentials can be stolen. It also prevents lateral movement and escalation by securing pathways and reducing the time a malicious hacker has inside a breached system. PIM also establishes strong security controls for the actions the organization deems most critical.
PIM limits privilege sprawl by preventing users from gaining and keeping excessive rights. Logging capabilities support auditing and compliance efforts. Through vaulting and rotation, PIM protects shared and legacy admin accounts.
Like most security controls, however, PIM creates friction for administrators responsible for approvals, timeouts and other steps that can impede operations. Adopting PIM can be complex and expensive, particularly in hybrid environments. There is also a risk of under-securing certain pathways, leading to overconfidence.
While PIM is useful, it is only one facet of a strong defense. A multilayered security infrastructure also incorporates endpoint security, segmentation and threat detection and response.
Best practices for effective PIM
For a PIM program to succeed, follow these best practices:
- Adopt core access controls. Consider just-in-time role activation, scoped permissions, approvals and workflows, as well as strong MFA requirements and conditional access permissions.
- Document privileged roles and permissions. To support strong governance, PIM needs a privileged-role catalog and administrative ownership.
- Continuously update documentation. Because it is a dynamic asset, PIM requires consistent reviews and recertification for privileged roles and general eligibility.
- Protect secrets. Set up specifications for human and nonhuman entities. Key vaulting for shared accounts and service accounts is essential.
- Rotate controls. Automate checkout and check-in rotations. For service accounts, PIM should have controls around ownership, purpose, credential scope and rotation.
- Address key management. This includes key rotation when practical. An effective PIM strategy needs to take session security into account. Session brokering, for example, uses an intermediate system to secure the connection between the accessing entity and the target resource. For logging purposes, PIM should record sessions.
- Perform consistent logging. On a broader level, PIM tools should log elevation events and downstream processes.
- Monitor PIM tools and events. Monitoring is important so tools can track and flag events such as anomalous elevation patterns and risky commands. To streamline incident response, PIM should integrate with SIEM and SOAR tools.
Where PIM fits in identity management
As mentioned, PIM plays a critical role in an organization's overarching identity and access management strategy, but it is a complementary role and only one piece in the puzzle. It regulates how much access is granted, essentially acting as the enforcement controller.
PIM works alongside access management and single sign-on, which address user authentication, session management, federation and conditional access. It solidifies privileged pathways by executing authentication controls, implementing policies for privileged sessions and segmenting admin roles and accounts. PIM helps admins apply zero-trust principles, including least privilege, just-in-time and just-enough access, and continuous validation.
Many are confused about how PIM aligns with and differs from privileged access management (PAM). PIM oversees eligibility and elevation. For example, an organization could use PIM to grant a specific individual database admin privileges for 45 minutes on a particular day. PAM, meanwhile, governs how privileged sessions and credentials are used and tracked, such as with session recording, rotation, and check-ins and checkouts.
When executed well, PIM is a vital part of an organization's overall IAM strategy. Still, it is just one element of a larger identity strategy.
Amy Larsen DeCarlo has covered the IT industry for more than 30 years, as a journalist, editor and analyst. As a principal analyst at GlobalData, she covers managed security and cloud services.
