What is Remote Privileged Access Management (RPAM)?

• IAM Glossary
• What is Remote Privileged Access Management (RPAM)?

Remote Privileged Access Management (RPAM) enables organisations to securely manage and monitor privileged access to critical systems and sensitive information from outside the corporate network. RPAM ensures that only authorised users can remotely connect to sensitive systems, applications and services without exposing credentials. As hybrid work, cloud services and third-party vendor access become more common, RPAM is essential for reducing attack surfaces and preventing unauthorised access.

How RPAM works

RPAM regulates who can access what, when and under what conditions from a remote location. Here's a step-by-step overview of how it works:

1. User requests remote access: When a user needs access to critical systems from a remote location, they must first send a request through the RPAM system.

2. RPAM evaluates the request: The request is validated against policies like Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Just-in-Time (JIT) access. It evaluates conditions like the user's identity, location and device before either approving or denying the request.

3. Secure session is established: If the request is approved, RPAM creates an encrypted session through a zero-trust gateway. Credentials are injected securely, so passwords are never exposed to the user during the session.

4. Session is logged and monitored: Throughout the session, RPAM records details including session start and end times, resources accessed and actions taken.

5. Access is revoked: After the session is over, RPAM removes the user's access, ensuring no standing access remains. Credentials can also be automatically rotated after the session ends to enhance security.

Key features of RPAM

RPAM has several important features focused on securing and simplifying how organisations manage remote privileged access:

• Zero-trust access and credential injection: RPAM operates on zero-trust security, meaning no user or device is trusted by default. It masks credentials and injects them directly, preventing passwords from being exposed or stolen.

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Access permissions are assigned based on a user's role within an organisation, limiting privileges only to what's necessary for their task. With RBAC, organisations can reduce the risk of unnecessary or excessive access.

• Privileged session recording: All remote sessions are monitored and recorded, logging details including which commands were entered and what resources were accessed. This helps organisations investigate suspicious behavior and complete audit trails for compliance purposes. Advanced RPAM solutions also feature agentic AI threat detection and response, which automatically terminates high-risk sessions and summarise activities of all sessions.

• Just-in-Time (JIT) access: Instead of having standing access, RPAM grants time-limited access only when needed. With JIT access, organisations minimise the risk of privilege abuse and reduce lateral movement.

RPAM vs PAM: What's the difference?

While both RPAM and traditional Privileged Access Management (PAM) focus on securing privileged access, they serve different purposes. PAM is designed to manage and monitor privileged access across an entire organisation. It includes tools for password vaulting, access governance and session monitoring. However, legacy PAM solutions often lack native support for cloud-based infrastructure and remote work environments.

RPAM, on the other hand, secures remote privileged access in distributed environments. It extends traditional PAM capabilities by ensuring secure, policy-driven access regardless of the user's physical location, making it ideal for modern hybrid and cloud-based environments.

Benefits of RPAM

Implementing RPAM provides organisations with stronger access controls, improved visibility and better alignment with zero-trust security frameworks. Here are some of the key benefits of RPAM:

• Supports zero-trust architecture: RPAM enforces the core pillars of zero-trust security by authenticating every access request, verifying the user's identity and revoking access immediately after use.

• Reduces attack surface: RPAM helps prevent unauthorised access by enforcing granular access controls, lowering the chances of external threats and data breaches.

• Streamlines compliance: By ensuring all remote access is auditable and well-documented, RPAM helps organisations meet compliance requirements like FedRAMP and ISO 27001.

• Centralises control and provides full visibility: RPAM provides centralised control and full visibility, with session recording and real-time monitoring to improve threat detection and incident response.

• Enables least-privilege access: By enforcing least-privilege access, RPAM allows secure, temporary access without relying on Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or firewalls, making it ideal for hybrid and cloud environments.

• Minimises insider threat risk: RPAM eliminates standing access and provides JIT access, reducing the risk of privilege abuse and insider threats.

Why RPAM is important

With cyber threats growing more sophisticated and workforces becoming more distributed, traditional security models are not sufficient to effectively protect organisations. RPAM plays an essential role in modern IT infrastructure by securing remote access and enforcing zero-trust security.

Supports remote work and distributed workforces

More users are accessing critical systems from beyond traditional perimeter-based networks as hybrid work environments and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies grow in popularity. RPAM provides a centralised way to manage privileged access across remote locations without relying on tools like VPNs or firewalls. It ensures that remote administrators and third parties can connect securely without jeopardising sensitive data.

Eliminates standing access

Standing access is a serious security risk for privileged accounts since it grants long-term access to sensitive data and systems. Fortunately, RPAM eliminates standing access by enforcing JIT access, granting users access only when needed and automatically revoking it afterward. This significantly reduces the risk of privilege abuse or misuse, whether from insider threats or compromised accounts.

Defends against advanced cyber threats

Modern cyber threats target privileged account credentials and remote access to breach the most critical data and systems. RPAM provides organisations with additional layers of security through zero-trust access, credential masking, end-to-end encryption and real-time monitoring to prevent cybercriminals from exploiting privileged access.

Common use cases of RPAM

Here are some of the most common and impactful use cases where RPAM is valuable across various environments:

Remote admin access

RPAM is ideal for IT teams and system administrators who need to remotely manage servers, applications or databases. Rather than relying on VPNs or exposing credentials, RPAM allows secure, time-limited remote access to critical systems, enabling efficient troubleshooting and maintenance from any location.

Third-party vendor access

Many organisations rely on third-party vendors or contractors for support, but granting these service providers long-term access can introduce security risks. RPAM allows organisations to grant temporary access to vendors based on strict access policies, with full visibility and session recording to ensure transparency and accountability. This aligns with the principles of Vendor Privileged Access Management (VPAM), a subset of PAM focusing specifically on managing third-party vendor access.

Cloud and DevOps access

organisations must secure remote access to cloud environments like AWS and Azure as cloud adoption grows more widespread. Built on zero-trust security principles, RPAM helps secure remote access to CI/CD pipelines, cloud consoles and SaaS management tools without relying on static credentials or granting standing access.