How to Empower Developers Without Sacrificing Security: A Smarter Approach to Admin Rights

Imagine this: It’s Monday morning and Sarah, a senior developer, needs to get started on her work for the week. But first, she needs to update one of her dev tools to patch a significant security vulnerability. In the past, this was a simple task. But a recent company-wide decision to remove local admin rights has stalled her progress.

Suddenly, Sarah finds herself stuck in a helpdesk queue, waiting hours for a routine approval. She’s gone from a creative problem-solver to someone hamstrung by the very policies meant to protect the company, similar to when Mac users need to update Xcode Command Line Tools, approve a Docker Desktop helper, or install a Homebrew cask that requires privileged writes. These are all common tasks that now require elevation.

This scenario highlights the ongoing conflict between a developer’s need for rapid agility, and the security team’s mandate for rigorous user access reviews and control. It’s a classic dilemma: developers want the freedom to innovate while security teams need to protect systems. This tension is at the heart of the end-user security debate. Must security always come at the cost of productivity? Or is there a smarter way to manage permissions that works both for developers and security teams?

Unrestricted admin rights pose a serious and well-recognized risk. A developer might download a new tool to quickly complete a task only to find out later that the tool was actually compromised, potentially installing malware on their machine. This single action could lead to multiple undesirable outcomes, including incurring a data breach, ransomware, and/or major financial and reputational damage. Even with Gatekeeper and Notarization, users can be socially engineered to run unsigned or risky installers.

So, how can a company balance the need to manage risk while keeping their most important resources productive? The answer lies in balancing employee needs with the principle of least privilege. An Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM) solution offers a way forward by providing flexibility without exposing organizations to unnecessary risk.

Rather than granting developers standing admin rights, an Endpoint Privilege Management solution has them work as standard users most of the time, but when they need to perform a task that requires higher permissions (for example, installing a new tool or making a system change), EPM provides a temporary, on-demand elevation of privilege. And the privilege is immediately revoked once it’s no longer needed.

This method of dynamic privilege management ensures every elevated session is logged and monitored, dramatically reducing the attack surface. Developers can also have greater confidence in the company’s security posture, knowing that if they accidentally download a compromised tool there is a solid layer of protection in place to protect against lateral movement. This approach is a cornerstone of modern DevSecOps best practices.

In the early days of EPM, deployment began with mapping developer roles, defining their tools, and identifying where admin-level access was required. To accelerate adoption, QuickStart policies were introduced. These predefined frameworks give organizations a fast, flexible foundation for creating policies that are customizable to meet specific operational needs.

Today, EPM has evolved even more to simplify dynamic privilege management. Some more recent key advancements include:

• Just-in-Time (JIT) workflows: With the introduction of JIT workflows, businesses now gain a smarter, more agile way to manage exceptions. Access requests are seamlessly integrated into the existing infrastructure, enabling users to stay productive while maintaining a strong security posture.

• Detailed analytics: Security teams can use detailed analytics around access requests and responses to identify trends, evaluate risk, and implement policy adjustments —all with faster speed and better precision.

• Scalable deployment: Endpoint privilege management can now be deployed across hundreds of thousands of machines in just a matter of weeks, bringing scalable and intelligent permission control within easy reach for a modern enterprise.

For an EPM solution rollout to be successful, clear communication is critical — especially with development teams. This starts with communicating why EPM is the right solution and emphasizing that the tool is in fact a form of empowerment (not one of suspicion).

BeyondTrust’s Endpoint Privilege Management solution, for example, has been successfully rolled out to all of our own employees, both technical and non-technical. When it comes to curating policies for developers, our security teams make sure developers are part of the policy decision-making process. They also facilitate inter-departmental communication so issues can be quickly resolved.

Once Endpoint Privilege Management is in place, it’s important to continually review data and reassess privileges. Through trend analysis of applications and user behavior, emerging patterns can be recognized and policies updated accordingly. This practice ensures good security hygiene and a developer-friendly environment. Coordinate EPM with your MDM (Jamf, Intune, Kandji) to manage PPPC/TCC settings and approve System/Network Extensions—EPM handles elevation; MDM handles prompts and approvals.

Successfully implementing Endpoint Privilege Management requires a thoughtful strategy that prioritizes both security and developer productivity.

• Balance, don’t block: Frame Endpoint Privilege Management as a tool for empowerment. It should give developers on-demand privileges to do their jobs efficiently and securely.

• Find the right pace: EPM can be rolled out rapidly, but it takes the right amount of effort and dedicated resources upfront. Choose the right pace for your specific circumstances so you can hit your goals with minimal disruption.

• Collaborate for success: Involve engineering teams right from the start. Leveraging their expertise helps you become partners and is crucial for creating effective and realistic policies.

• Invest in visibility and measurement: Track important metrics like the number of admin accounts in use, incident volume, and time-to-resolution for tickets.

• Embrace continuous improvement: Technology, tools, and threats are always changing. Your EPM strategy and policies need to evolve as well. Regularly review and adjust roles and policies based on trend analysis of applications and user behavior.

• Provide clear communication: Explain why the change is being made. Position EPM as a tool that empowers developers and strengthens an organization’s security posture.

With BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management, security need not be sacrificed for productivity. The smarter way to manage permissions with both developers and security mandates in mind is to empower developers with Endpoint Privilege Management. They get the frictionless, just-in-time access they need, while security teams maintain visibility and control over every endpoint.

Ready to see for yourself how Endpoint Privilege Management enables organizations to achieve least privilege across Windows, macOS, and Linux? Click here to access our demo.