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The number of attacks on data in the year 2020 were too many and the damage was severe. Indeed, in a recently published report it was reported that worldwide 22 billion data records were compromised in the wake of 730 publicly reported incidents.
Too many access control vulnerabilities are one of the obvious causes behind this steep rise in data breach incidents every year. While malicious insider threat remains as the top IT risk, the casual approach like not patching software vulnerabilities on-time or relying on Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access critical systems also enables cyber criminals to exploit systems.
A high-pace of enterprise digital transformation has led to a complex IT infrastructure that includes disparate platforms and environments. Organizations can pay a hefty price if access controls especially those related to the elevated privileges are not robustly managed in this ever-expanding IT ecosystem. And these highly elevated accounts are spiraling. Both human ids and non-human ids in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) galore in a typical mid-size and large enterprises as organizations look to manage a large swathe of critical data, business and IT processes, and automate IT tasks.
Not surprising that ransomware attacks, VPN access vulnerabilities and unpatched vulnerabilities led to a sharp rise in data breach last year. With a sudden shift to the ‘New Normal’ arising from remote workforce, organizations struggled to come up with the terms of new IT security norms. And that has widened the threat vector. Because all they need (cyber-criminals) is an illegitimate access to the network. Once inside the network, they use sophisticated spywares or other backdoors to steal privileged credentials and unleash Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) including moving laterally to hijack systems and encrypt data (ransomware).
Now, Privileged Access Management we all know is the best-practice to keep a vigilant eye on malicious corporate insiders. This practice allows enterprise IT security and risk management team to govern the all-important privileged accounts. It fosters the practice of authorization, authentication and audits of every privileged access. However, did you know that ARCON | Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution is capable to mitigate other external cyber-threats as mentioned above? It can stop the execution of attack kill-chain that starts from privileged accounts.
For instance, if any sophisticated malware or ransomware attack has to succeed, technically it will first exploit vulnerable endpoints and then look out for privilege escalation inside the network to unleash an attack. Hijacking privileged accounts become easy when enterprise make a mistake of keeping too many ‘Always-on’ privileges like local admin account etc. However, ARCON significantly reduces the privileged account attack surface.
ARCON | PAM supports just-in-time-privileges practice wherein only the right person has the right to access the right systems/applications at the right time. Any anomalies during privileged sessions are automatically detected on real-time basis followed by freezing of suspicious session.
Besides, ARCON offers a Secure Gateway that eliminates the need for VPN connections. ARCON Application Gateway Server, integrated with PAM, securely streams required data from target devices and applications to end-user machines.
In a nutshell, ARCON | PAM has built-in capabilities that are not only adequate to thwart insider attacks but also mitigate sophisticated cyber-attacks.
The bottom-line
Privileged Accounts face persistent threats from two fronts: corporate insiders and cyber-criminals. ARCON | PAM offers adequate safeguards to protect critical data.
ARCON is a leading enterprise risk control solutions provider, specializing in risk-predictive technologies. ARCON | User Behaviour Analytics enables to monitor end-user activities in real time. ARCON | Privileged Access Management reinforces access control and mitigates data breach threats. ARCON | Endpoint Privilege Management mitigates risks arising out of endpoints. ARCON | Secure Compliance Management is a vulnerability assessment tool.
