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PAM Solutions: Critical to Securing Privileged Access

  • PAM Solutions: Critical to Securing Privileged Access-

    Behavior as authentication

    Peter Gyöngyösi, product owner of Privileged Account Analytics at Balabit, said it is time to use behavior as an authentication. Behavioral tools can track habits of the user (i.e., typical time of day and activities performed), the devices and technologies uses (i.e., touchpad versus mouse and keyboard; desktop or tablet), and the way individuals operate the devices and technologies (i.e., the software can detect between a touch typist and someone who uses one finger). The more the PAM solution knows about a user’s behavior, the better it can detect the difference between a legitimate user and a potential hacker.

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PAM Solutions: Critical to Securing Privileged Access

  • 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
  • PAM Solutions: Critical to Securing Privileged Access-7

    Behavior as authentication

    Peter Gyöngyösi, product owner of Privileged Account Analytics at Balabit, said it is time to use behavior as an authentication. Behavioral tools can track habits of the user (i.e., typical time of day and activities performed), the devices and technologies uses (i.e., touchpad versus mouse and keyboard; desktop or tablet), and the way individuals operate the devices and technologies (i.e., the software can detect between a touch typist and someone who uses one finger). The more the PAM solution knows about a user’s behavior, the better it can detect the difference between a legitimate user and a potential hacker.

Data breaches as a result of compromised privileged access are widespread, which is one reason why Matt Dircks, CEO with Bomgar, predicted that we’ll see more and serious breaches and security incidents involving privileged access. “Hackers need high-level access, which they get through targeting privileged users like IT professionals, CEOs and vendors via phishing or malware to achieve their financial goals or other motivations,” Dircks said in an email comment. “These users are targeted by the threat actor because they are likely to have access to other privileged credentials that the hacker can leverage to increase dwell time and compromise their target.”

To protect the company from those insiders who abuse their privileged access and from hackers with stolen credentials, many companies are turning to a privileged access management (PAM) solution.

“PAM and its automation are crucial to minimizing risk and losses caused by insiders and intruders that steal credentials or exceed their authority,” said Philip Lieberman, president of Lieberman Software. “The technology reduces the labor of IT to maintain compliance and radically reduces the labor costs of changing passwords by hand.”