Privileged access management risks & how to avoid them
Privileged access management (PAM) is one of the most effective ways to secure high-value accounts, as long as it’s implemented and maintained properly. Poorly configured or incomplete implementations can introduce new vulnerabilities that undermine your entire security posture.
Key takeaways:
- Even the best PAM strategies can introduce new privileged access management risks if they’re misconfigured, inconsistently monitored, or poorly maintained.
- Prevent misconfigurations and insider misuse by enforcing least privilege, just-in-time access, and continuous monitoring.
- Strengthen security against credential theft with phishing-resistant MFA, passwordless authentication, and device trust enforcement.
- Integrate PAM with broader controls like adaptive authentication, SIEM visibility, and automated threat detection to improve compliance and incident response.
Want to reduce your privileged access management risks? Check out the Duo SSO for CyberArk Privileged Access documentation to learn how the Duo and CyberArk integration helps organizations protect privileged accounts.
Why is privileged account management important?
Privileged accounts hold the keys to your most sensitive systems and data. They allow administrators and services to install software, access production environments, and modify configurations. While these capabilities are necessary for your business operations, they also make privileged accounts prime targets for attackers looking to exploit elevated access.
Privileged access management (PAM) is a cornerstone of modern zero trust security. It helps prevent credential theft, insider misuse, and lateral movement by controlling how elevated permissions are granted and used.
When implemented well, PAM can significantly reduce your organization’s attack surface. Still, PAM isn’t immune to mistakes. Misconfigurations, weak authentication, or incomplete monitoring can introduce new vulnerabilities instead of eliminating existing ones.
Keep reading for a closer look at some of the most common privileged access management risks and how to mitigate them.
How misconfigurations and poor segmentation create security risks
Misconfigurations are among the most overlooked privileged access management risks. When access controls are applied inconsistently or when permissions are too broad, privileged users often have more power than they need.
Common examples include:
Global admin rights granted “temporarily” but never revoked.
Orphaned accounts retaining access to production systems.
Privileged sessions that go unmonitored or unlogged.
These issues widen the attack surface and make it harder to detect misuse. Incomplete credential vaulting or weak session-recording enforcement can also expose credentials, especially when passwords are stored in scripts or local files.
How to prevent misconfiguration and segmentation risks
Reducing misconfiguration requires visibility and proactive enforcement. Regular audits and temporary privilege models help ensure that permissions stay accurate, access remains limited, and potential vulnerabilities are caught early.
The following practices help strengthen your privileged access management framework:
Automate PAM audits
Continuous reviews of policies, permissions, and vault configurations help surface configuration drift or shadow access before attackers can exploit them.
Adopt zero-standing privileges (ZSP)
Replace permanent admin rights with temporary, just-in-time (JIT) access: short-term, task-based privileges that automatically expire once the work is complete.
Manage insider threats and unauthorized privileged access
Not all cyber threats come from outside your network. Malicious insiders or even well-intentioned employees with excessive permissions can pose significant risks. A compromised privileged account can exfiltrate data, modify logs, or disable security controls before anyone notices.
The major challenge is that insiders already have legitimate credentials, making traditional perimeter defenses ineffective.
How to mitigate insider and unauthorized access risks
Preventing insider misuse starts with visibility and control. Organizations need to limit high-level permissions, continuously monitor privileged activity, and detect abnormal behavior before it leads to exposure.
Combining the following controls helps minimize risk without slowing legitimate work:
Role-based access controls (RBAC)
RBAC limits each user’s access to only what’s necessary for their role, reducing the blast radius if a compromise occurs.
Continuous monitoring
Continuous monitoring uses behavioral analytics to detect deviations from normal activity, such as large-scale data downloads or configuration changes outside approved windows.
Anomaly detection
Anomaly detection powered by machine learning helps identify subtle signs of misuse long before they escalate or impact your most critical systems.
A well-defined access model supported by real-time oversight minimizes insider risk without interfering with your team’s productivity.
Preventing theft of privileged credentials
Privileged credentials are among the most valuable assets in any organization’s environment. Attackers frequently target them through phishing, brute-force attempts, and malware such as keyloggers or token stealers.
Password-based privileged accounts are particularly vulnerable, especially when credentials are reused, stored locally, or shared across multiple systems. Some companies are shifting towards passwordless authentication to sidestep the use of traditional credentials.
Read more about how to go passwordless here: passwordless authentication.
How to prevent credential theft in privileged access management
To reduce the risk of stolen or compromised privileged credentials, organizations should strengthen the verification of authentication and eliminate dependence on passwords where possible.
The following methods help protect high-value accounts from phishing and brute-force attacks:
FIDO2 and certificate-based authentication
Eliminate passwords altogether by binding credentials to a specific user or hardware device.
Biometric verification
Adds another layer of assurance, like fingerprints or facial recognition, that can’t easily be replicated or stolen.
Advanced MFA
Ensures that even if one authentication factor is compromised, attackers still can’t gain access without the second.
Closing compliance gaps and improving incident response
Beyond the immediate security impact, weak or inconsistent PAM practices can also create serious compliance challenges. Many organizations must meet frameworks such as NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, GDPR, and HIPAA, all of which require strict control and auditing of privileged access.
If PAM isn’t properly configured, organizations face audit failures, financial penalties, and reputational damage. A lack of visibility, like missing session logs or incomplete audit trails, can also slow down digital forensics and incident response, allowing attackers more time to move laterally across your network.
How to strengthen compliance and response in PAM
To stay compliant and respond quickly to potential threats, organizations need visibility, automation, and integration across their privileged access systems. The following controls work together to reduce risk and simplify oversight:
Dynamic access policies
Adjust privileges automatically based on context, like user location, device health, and overall risk level.
Adaptive authentication
Increases verification requirements when unusual or high-risk behavior is detected.
Automated threat detection
Identifies anomalies across authentication events and privileged sessions in real time.
SIEM integration
Unifies PAM and MFA data for centralized monitoring, faster investigations, and streamlined compliance reporting.
With these integrated controls, your organization can close compliance gaps, improve response times, and maintain complete visibility into privileged activity.
Automated, risk-based access policies
Contextual signals like device health, location, and network data inform access decisions in real time, reducing the likelihood of abuse.
By combining these features with a well-configured PAM platform, your organization can significantly reduce its exposure to privileged account threats without sacrificing efficiency.
To learn more about building a strong access management foundation, explore the Access Management Buyers Guide for practical evaluation criteria, vendor comparisons, and insights to guide your security strategy.
Ready to secure your organization?
Experience for yourself why Duo is one of the most trusted access management tools. Try it for free, explore editions, and connect with security experts.