Attackers target privilege first
Escalating to admin or domain control is the objective of most intrusion chains. Protecting privilege breaks the chain.
Solutions · PAM
Privileged Access Management
Control, vault and monitor the accounts that can change everything — administrators, service accounts, root credentials and break-glass access.
What is PAM?
Privileged Access Management (PAM) is the discipline of securing accounts with elevated permissions: domain administrators, root users, database owners, service accounts and third-party support credentials. These accounts bypass the safeguards that apply to normal users, which makes them the highest-value target in almost every intrusion.
A PAM programme removes standing privilege wherever possible. Credentials are vaulted and rotated, access is granted just-in-time for a defined task, sessions are brokered and recorded, and every privileged action is attributable to a person.
Why it matters
Why privileged access is the decisive control
Nearly every significant breach involves privileged credentials — stolen, reused, shared or unmanaged.
Standing access multiplies risk
Accounts with permanent elevated rights create permanent exposure. Just-in-time access reduces the window to almost nothing.
Audit and compliance depend on it
Regulators expect demonstrable control over administrative access, with session evidence and approval trails.
How it works
How Netralink approaches PAM
A staged programme, from discovery to continuous control.
- 01
Discover
Inventory privileged accounts, credentials, keys and their usage across on-premise and cloud estates.
- 02
Vault
Move credentials into a hardened vault with rotation, checkout workflows and break-glass procedures.
- 03
Minimise
Eliminate standing privilege: remove dormant accounts, decompose service accounts, enforce least privilege.
- 04
Broker
Route privileged sessions through controlled access points with just-in-time approval.
- 05
Record
Capture and index session activity for audit, investigation and user behaviour analytics.
- 06
Govern
Regular access reviews, certification campaigns and continuous policy tuning.
Capabilities
PAM capabilities
Controls that cover the full privileged lifecycle.
Credential vaulting
Encrypted storage with automatic rotation for passwords, keys and certificates.
Just-in-time access
Time-bound privilege elevation with approval workflow and automatic expiry.
Session brokering
Privileged sessions launched through controlled jump points, never direct.
Session monitoring
Live view, keystroke logging and recording of privileged activity.
Least privilege enforcement
Remove local admin rights, control elevation and restrict lateral movement.
Cloud privileged access
Manage cloud admin roles, service principals and infrastructure secrets.
In practice
PAM use cases
Administrator control
Vault domain and server admin credentials with checkout and session recording.
Third-party access
Grant vendors time-bound access to specific systems with full session evidence.
Service account governance
Discover, vault and rotate the service accounts nobody owns.
Audit readiness
Produce evidence of who accessed what, when, and under whose approval.
Outcomes
Benefits
- Dramatically reduced blast radius from credential theft
- Auditable, attributable privileged activity
- Removal of shared and dormant administrative accounts
- Compliance evidence for access control requirements
- A practical path toward Zero Trust for administrator access
Comparison
PAM vs IAM
Different scopes, complementary outcomes.
Different scopes, complementary outcomes.
| Aspect | PAM | IAM |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Privileged and elevated accounts | All identities and access lifecycles |
| Primary risk | Admin credential compromise | Access governance and identity sprawl |
| Key controls | Vaulting, JIT, session recording | Provisioning, SSO, MFA, reviews |
| Who it manages | Admins, service accounts, root | Employees, contractors, customers |
FAQ
PAM — frequently asked questions
PAM (Privileged Access Management) is the set of controls that protect accounts with elevated rights: administrators, service accounts and root credentials. Typical controls include credential vaulting and rotation, just-in-time access, session brokering, recording and least-privilege enforcement.
Privileged credentials are the most valuable target in an intrusion because they bypass normal safeguards. Controlling, rotating and monitoring them limits an attacker who obtains credentials, provides audit evidence, and breaks the escalation chains most breaches depend on.
IAM manages identities and access for everyone — provisioning, single sign-on, MFA and reviews for normal users. PAM focuses specifically on privileged accounts and the controls they require: vaulting, just-in-time elevation, session brokering and recording. The two programmes complement each other.
PIM (Privileged Identity Management) is generally used to describe the subset of controls that manage elevation and entitlements — such as Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management — while PAM is the broader discipline including vaulting, session management and monitoring outside the identity provider.
Zero Trust removes implicit trust based on network location or account type. Applied to privilege, it means no standing access, explicit verification for each elevation, and continuous assessment of the session. PAM is the practical enforcement point for Zero Trust on administrative access.
Related
Explore related solutions
Next step
Put this capability to work
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