Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a cybersecurity framework and set of tools designed to secure, manage, and monitor access to critical systems by privileged accounts. These accounts include IT admins, service accounts, and application accounts that have elevated rights to make system-wide changes. Because they hold the “keys to the kingdom,” privileged accounts are prime targets for attackers.

PAM solutions help by:

• Controlling who has access to privileged accounts.
• Providing time-limited, just-in-time (JIT) access instead of standing permissions.
• Monitoring and recording privileged sessions.
• Storing credentials in secure vaults.
• Enforcing MFA and least-privilege principles.

What PAM Means to SMBs

For small and midsize businesses (SMBs), PAM is about reducing risk without adding complexity.

• SMBs often lack large security teams, so a PAM solution automates the protection of sensitive accounts.
• It prevents insider abuse and limits the blast radius of compromised admin credentials.
• Many SMB breaches happen because a single admin account was compromised—PAM closes this gap.
• Cloud-based PAM offerings make enterprise-level security affordable and easier to manage for smaller IT teams.

What PAM Means to MSPs

Managed Service Providers (MSPs) face even greater risks:

• MSPs manage multiple client environments, often juggling dozens or hundreds of privileged credentials.
• A breach of an MSP’s admin account could give attackers access across all clients (a nightmare scenario).
• PAM helps MSPs centralize and secure credentials, enforce strong authentication, and log all privileged activity.
• It also builds trust with clients—showing that the MSP is taking steps to protect the “crown jewels” of IT.
• PAM reduces liability and aligns with compliance requirements (HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC 2, etc.), which MSPs must often meet for clients.

In short:

For MSPs, PAM means protecting not only their own systems but also every client they serve, reducing risk at scale and strengthening customer trust.lts, and enabling disk/database encryption, to protect client environments and their own business.

For SMBs, PAM means affordable protection against one of the top breach risks: stolen admin credentials.

Additional Reading:

CyberHoot does have some other resources available for your use. Below are links to all of our resources, feel free to check them out whenever you like:

• Blog
• Cybrary (Cyber Library)
• Infographics
• Newsletters
• Press Releases
• Instructional Articles (HowTo) – very helpful for our Super Admins!

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