There is a reason all BeyondTrust Privileged Account Management (PAM) solutions share the PowerBroker name: They all inherently enable you to reduce user-based risk and can be integrated under a centralized IT risk management platform. Here’s one common use case that demonstrates how this integration changes the playing field.
Consider the challenge of privileged access: The more access a user or attacker has to a desktop or server, the more damage can be done. The simple solution is flat-out prohibiting users from having administrative access to IT assets – right? Well, that’s easier said than done, since so many common tasks require elevated access. Locking privileged down on a wholesale basis undoubtedly leads to nightmares for help desk technicians, domain administrators, and just about everyone else. It’s no way to make friends.
Least-privilege tools like PowerBroker for Windows enable you to limit everyone to standard user privileges and instead elevate the privileges of applications to perform tasks that require administrative access. That’s a great start. An interesting problem arises, though, when a user needs administrative access via RDP (or local access) for troubleshooting or other advanced tasks (e.g., changing OS configuration via the control panel). How do you avoid providing help desk staff with real administrative privileges that could be intercepted in attacks like Pass-the-Hash?
That’s where privileged password management with PowerBroker Password Safe comes in.
In the above case, Password Safe would allow the help desk technician to immediately check an account out for remote access to the asset. Then, working in concert with PowerBroker for Windows, it would apply least-privilege rules to enable the tech to perform advanced functions from a standard user state – rather than as an administrator. The account’s password could also automatically be randomized and cycled so help desk staff can’t access an asset without logging a request, checking out a password, and leaving an record (in video format) of every action they perform.
In summary, when the help deck technician logs into the remote system:
- the privileged account and associated password are never exposed;
- PowerBroker for Windows allows advanced tasks per defined rules and policies;
- the user never actually has administrative privileges; and so,
- attack vectors like Pass-the-Hash are a moot point!
Morey J. Haber, Chief Security Officer at BeyondTrust
Morey J. Haber is the Chief Security Officer at BeyondTrust. He has more than 25 years of IT industry experience and has authored three books: Privileged Attack Vectors, Asset Attack Vectors, and Identity Attack Vectors. He is a founding member of the industry group Transparency in Cyber, and in 2020 was elected to the Identity Defined Security Alliance (IDSA) Executive Advisory Board. Morey currently oversees BeyondTrust security and governance for corporate and cloud based solutions and regularly consults for global periodicals and media. He originally joined BeyondTrust in 2012 as a part of the eEye Digital Security acquisition where he served as a Product Owner and Solutions Engineer since 2004. Prior to eEye, he was Beta Development Manager for Computer Associates, Inc. He began his career as Reliability and Maintainability Engineer for a government contractor building flight and training simulators. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.