“Secure remote access pathways, enforce least privilege, manage all privileged credentials and secrets, control applications, and monitor and manage every privileged session — whether involving a human, machine, employee, or vendor. Exploitation of privilege is used in almost every cyber-attack today — ransomware is not an exception. A strong PAM defense can prevent ransomware from landing in the first place, or at least usually mitigate an attack by stymying its progress by hindering lateral movement and potential for escalation of privileges. PAM can even help thwart tricky fileless attacks, which surged 888% in 2020, and often play a role in advanced persistent threats (APTs), including ransomware.”