How to Safeguard Privileged Access Infrastructure

Since the ’90s I’ve built, shipped, and occasionally exploited just about every kind of identity control. We’re now pretty good at building gates around privilege, but not nearly as good at removing it once the job is done. This hurts in 2025. Privileged access no longer lives only with well-defined admin accounts. It threads through every developer workflow, CI/CD script, SaaS connector, and microservice. The result: standing privilege is inevitable, an orphaned token here, a break-glass account there, quietly turning into “forever creds.” Here’s what’s working in the field: → One JIT policy engine that spans cloud, SaaS, and on-prem - no more cloud-specific silos.  ↳ Same approval workflow everywhere, so nobody bypasses “the one tricky platform.”  ↳ Central log stream = single source of truth for auditors and threat hunters. → Bundle-based access: server + DB + repo granted (and revoked) as one unit.  ↳ Devs get everything they need in one click - no shadow roles spun up on the side.  ↳ When the bundle expires, all linked privileges disappear, killing stragglers. → Continuous discovery & auto-kill for any threat that slips through #1 or #2.  ↳ Scan surfaces for compromised creds, role drifts, and partially off-boarded accounts.  ↳ Privilege paths are ranked by risk so teams can cut off the dangerous ones first. Killing standing privilege isn’t a tech mystery anymore, it’s an operational discipline.  What else would you put on the “modern PAM” checklist?

The National Security Agency (NSA) has released critical guidance on enhancing Zero Trust maturity within the application and workload pillar. We must take action to safeguard our organizations against increasingly sophisticated threats. Key Takeaways: • Transition from static, network-centric access to dynamic, identity, and data-centric access control • Prioritize capabilities such as application inventory management, secure software development (DevSecOps), software risk management, resource authorization, and continuous monitoring • Implement practical security measures, including strong authentication, granular access based on least privilege, encryption, micro-segmentation, and container security best practices Action Items: 1. Conduct a comprehensive inventory and categorization of all applications and workloads 2. Assess current authentication and access control measures; implement necessary improvements 3. Evaluate software development processes; integrate security throughout the DevSecOps lifecycle 4. Establish continuous monitoring capabilities to detect anomalous behavior and regularly assess security posture By taking proactive steps to mature our Zero Trust architectures, we can significantly enhance the protection of our critical applications and sensitive data. #ZeroTrust #Cybersecurity #ApplicationSecurity #DataProtection #NSAGuidance

🚨 𝐅𝐁𝐈 𝐂𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐰! 🚨 🔑 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐬: 𝐀 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 The 𝐅𝐁𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 to organizations: 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬. Threat actors are actively exploiting these accounts, leveraging 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐟𝐭, 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐞𝐱𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬. For tech risk professionals, this is yet another reminder that misconfigurations and poor access controls remain a major cybersecurity weakness. 🔥 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 Hackers exploit local admin privileges because they offer: 💀 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 – Attackers can easily maintain control over compromised systems. 🎭 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 – Gaining admin rights on one device allows access to entire networks. 🔓 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – Once inside, attackers escalate permissions, potentially reaching domain admin levels. In fact, 95% of security breaches involve privilege abuse at some stage. It’s not a matter of if but when attackers will exploit weak admin controls in your environment. 🛡️ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐨? To reduce your attack surface, the FBI and cybersecurity experts recommend the following: ✅ 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 – Limit exposure by enforcing least privilege access. 🔑 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭-𝐈𝐧-𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 (𝐉𝐈𝐓) 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 – Use 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝐏𝐀𝐌) to provide temporary admin rights only when needed. 🔍 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 – Deploy 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲. 🛠️ 𝐄𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐅𝐀 & 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 – Strengthen credentials and enforce regular rotation for admin accounts. 📛 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 & 𝐙𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬t – 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐆𝐏𝐎𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞, and implement 𝐙𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 to verify every access request. 📢 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲—𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Cybercriminals thrive on excessive privileges. Reducing this attack vector is one of the most effective cybersecurity moves you can make today. How is your organization addressing local admin risks? Drop your thoughts in the comments! 💬👇 #CyberSecurity #TechRisk #FBIWarning #LocalAdmin #ZeroTrust #PrivilegedAccess #IAM #InfoSec Tim Wei Teena Christina Alyssa Eugene Tod Gavin Ted Alexander