How To Achieve Zero-Standing Privilege in Your Organization

Your organization can achieve zero-standing privilege by following best practices such as enforcing least privilege access, implementing Just-in-Time (JIT) access and continuously monitoring and auditing privileged access. Following these best practices ensures that privileged access is granted only when necessary, and for the shortest duration possible, significantly reducing your organization’s attack surface and enhancing overall security. 

Continue reading to learn the importance of achieving zero-standing privilege and the best practices your organization should adopt to implement it effectively. 

The importance of achieving zero-standing privilege

Standing privileges refer to continuous, often unrestricted access to critical systems and sensitive data. While these privileges are often necessary for certain administrative tasks, they can pose a security risk if left unchecked. Over time, standing privileges can lead to privilege creep, which is the gradual accumulation of unnecessary privileges as employees take on new roles and responsibilities. If a threat actor manages to compromise an account for a user with standing privileges, they can move freely and laterally through your organization’s network, escalating their access and potentially causing widespread damage. 

Achieving zero-standing privilege helps to mitigate this risk by ensuring that privileged access is only granted when necessary and for a limited time. By reducing the window of time for privileged access, organizations can better protect themselves from data breaches and cybercriminals being able to move laterally within their network. 

Best practices to achieve zero-standing privilege

Here are some of the best practices your organization should adopt to achieve zero-standing privilege.

Enforce least privilege access

The Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) is a security practice that ensures users, applications and systems only have the minimum level of access necessary to perform their jobs. By enforcing least privilege access, you limit the potential damage from accidental or malicious misuse of privileges. To effectively enforce least privilege access, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) can be used to assign permissions based on user roles. 

By clearly defining roles and limiting access based on job responsibilities, you can ensure that users only have access to the resources and systems they need to complete their specific tasks. This helps to minimize the risk of users accumulating unnecessary permissions over time. 

Implement Just-in-Time (JIT) access

Once you’ve implemented least privilege access, the next step is enhancing your organization’s access control with JIT access. JIT access takes enforcing least privilege a step further by granting elevated permissions only when necessary and for a limited time. With JIT access, users request elevated access for specific tasks, and once those tasks are completed, their permissions are revoked automatically. This further protects privileged accounts by ensuring they’re not left exposed for longer than necessary, helping to reduce the risk of unauthorized access.

Implement Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

ZTNA operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify.” It assumes that no user or device, even inside the network, should be trusted by default. Every access request is authenticated and authorized, regardless of location or network. This ensures that privileged access is only granted after thorough verification.

Implement Privilege Elevation and Delegation Management (PEDM)

PEDM manages both privilege elevation and delegation to ensure that elevated access is granted only when necessary. With PEDM, users can request temporary privileges, but access is granted only after approval and is closely monitored. PEDM also enables authorized users to delegate elevated access with strict controls and full visibility into who granted it and why. This helps organizations achieve zero-standing privilege by ensuring that elevated access is always temporary, justified and auditable. 

Monitor and audit privileged access

To maintain zero-standing privilege, it’s important to continuously monitor and audit privileged access. A Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution provides real-time monitoring of all privileged activity by providing detailed logs and recording privileged sessions. This enables full visibility into who is accessing critical systems and what actions they’re taking, making it easy for IT admins to detect any unauthorized access, misuse or suspicious activity, while also ensuring adherence to regulatory compliance requirements. 

Achieve zero-standing privilege with KeeperPAM®

Standing privileges can pose a serious risk to your organization, making it important to take the necessary steps to achieve zero-standing privilege. While following best practices can help you lay the groundwork, a PAM solution is needed for full protection. 

KeeperPAM is a zero-trust, cloud-based solution that helps enforce least privilege access and achieve zero-standing privilege through features like RBAC, JIT access, zero-trust network access and advanced monitoring and auditing capabilities. 

To learn more about how KeeperPAM can help your organization achieve zero-standing privilege, request a demo today.