Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a cornerstone of enterprise cybersecurity. According to a 2018 report from Forrester, 80% of data breaches involve compromised privileged credentials—including passwords, tokens, keys, and certificates.
Despite its importance, many organizations struggle to implement secure, scalable PAM solutions. Below, we explore the key challenges and introduce a modern approach that simplifies privileged access control across the enterprise.
Challenges To Improving PAM
Like any aspect of enterprise cybersecurity, there are major challenges with privileged access management. Here are 5 of the most significant barriers to improving PAM.
Indexing Privileged Accounts
Many enterprises simply do not have visibility on all privileged user accounts. End-users sometimes share credentials and/or leave them unprotected on end-point devices.
Monitoring Access
Without an exhaustive inventory of privileged user accounts, it’s not possible to monitor all privileged access. Accounts that are unaccounted for may be accessing privileged resources.
Managing Credentials
When credentials are not centrally managed, it’s difficult to ensure that only authorized personnel are using those credentials to access privileged resources.
Strengthening Security Controls
Enforcing stronger security controls, such as multi-factor authentication and device authentication, is often a complex and time-consuming task.
Supporting All Access Methods
Many enterprises employ some elements of PAM for one or two use cases (e.g., SSH) but overlook the other methods used to access privileged resources in their environment.
With all of these challenges covered, let’s change gears: what would the perfect PAM solution look like? What are the goals that all PAM leaders are (or should be!) trying to achieve?
Learn how to make the most of the new features offered in TLS 1.3 and discover how to balance security and performance when deploying TLS in your environment.
Envisioning the Ideal PAM Solution
The perfect PAM solution would:
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Centrally manage access to all resources—applications, servers, email, cloud systems, and even locally stored files
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Integrate directly with the enterprise identity provider
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Align access with group membership, managed from a single pane of glass
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Enforce advanced controls (MFA, device authentication, approvals) based on resource sensitivity
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Allow quick revocation of permissions when employees change roles or leave the company
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Operate seamlessly in the background without disrupting end-users
This may sound ambitious, but with the right cryptographic and identity infrastructure, it’s entirely achievable—without custom integrations or major workflow changes.
The Path To Improving PAM
It’s often overlooked, but public key cryptography (PKC) is foundational to nearly every modern authentication protocol. TLS and SSH, and many others rely on key pairs for:
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Digital signatures (authentication)
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Encryption (protecting data in transit)
A modern PAM strategy can leverage PKC to unify identity and access across the enterprise.
1. Connect Identity to Cryptography
The first step is mapping human and machine identities to a format all client-server protocols understand: cryptographic keys and certificates.
When users authenticate using private keys rather than passwords, access control becomes more secure, auditable, and consistent across protocols.
2. Centrally Manage All Keys and Certificates
Every user and machine needs its own key pair and certificate—but those private keys should never be stored on endpoint devices.
Instead, keys should remain:
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Centrally stored
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Non-exportable
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Protected by a Hardware Security Module (HSM)
This prevents credential theft and makes access revocation instant and reliable.
A better approach is to centrally store the identity keys in a non-exportable manner in a hardware security module.
3. Enforce Granular Access Controls
With centralized keys and the right proxy layer between clients and the HSM, organizations can enforce powerful security controls:
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Multi-factor authentication
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Device authentication
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Approval workflows
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IP address allowlisting
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Role-based access
These controls ensure privileged operations are only executed under approved conditions.
4. Maintain Full Visibility and Auditing
Centralized key management provides complete visibility into how privileged credentials are used. Security teams can easily:
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Audit key usage
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Detect anomalies
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Meet compliance requirements
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Investigate potential misuse
Every privileged action involving a key becomes traceable.
To learn more about implementing this novel approach to PAM, download the e-book from Garantir.
