Welcome to the fourth post in the Identity Management series. Today, we're talking about Privileged Access Management (PAM) — arguably the most powerful and risky identity element in any environment.
What is PAM?
Privileged Access Management (PAM) involves controlling, monitoring and auditing the accounts that have elevated rights — such as domain admins, root users and global administrators. These accounts, if compromised, can lead to complete system takeovers, data breaches, or ransomware spread.
PAM in Windows Server
Native Tools for PAM:
- Just Enough Administration (JEA) — Define what commands users can run.
- Just-In-Time (JIT) Access with Windows Admin Center or Microsoft Identity Manager (MIM).
- Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA) — Securely manage services without static passwords.
Example: JEA Configuration
Create a custom role:
New-PSSessionConfigurationFile -VisibleCmdlets Get-Service,Restart-Service -Path .\LimitedAdmin.pssc
Register it:
Register-PSSessionConfiguration -Name LimitedAdmin -Path .\LimitedAdmin.pssc
Then assign it to a specific group/user only.
Benefits: reduce attack surface by limiting commands, enforce audit logs for every action, and provide temporary access when required.
PAM on Linux
Linux offers deep access control via sudo, but PAM requires centralization and auditing.
Strategies:
- Use sudoers carefully — limit commands per user.
- Integrate with LDAP or FreeIPA for role-based access.
- Implement session recording with tools like
auditd,tlog, orttyrec. - Use key-based SSH instead of passwords and rotate keys regularly.
Automation Tip: use Ansible or Chef to push PAM configuration across servers:
Defaults log_output
Defaults logfile="/var/log/sudo.log"
PAM in Azure Active Directory
Azure AD takes PAM to a whole new level with Privileged Identity Management (PIM) — available in Azure AD Premium P2.
Features: Just-In-Time (JIT) role activation, approval workflows, audit logs and alerts, and access reviews for stale permissions.
Quick Setup: go to Azure Portal → Azure AD → PIM. Select a role like Global Administrator, click "Eligible" → "Add assignments." Require MFA, justification, approval and set an activation time limit.
Real-Time Use-Case: a cloud admin only needs the 'User Administrator' role for 30 minutes? Grant PIM access with approval and auto-expiration after 30 minutes.
Tools to Consider (Optional Third Party)
CyberArk (enterprise-grade PAM platform), BeyondTrust (endpoint privilege elevation), ManageEngine PAM360 (budget-friendly), and Thycotic/Delinea Secret Server (password vaulting).
Best Practices to Implement PAM
- No permanent admin accounts — convert to eligible via PIM or scoped JEA roles.
- Time-bound access — every elevation must have expiry.
- Session logging — especially on critical systems and cloud environments.
- Use password vaults — rotate service account credentials securely.
- Test before rollout — PAM is powerful, but can block operations if misconfigured.
Real World Scenarios
Windows Server DevOps teams use JEA to let junior admins restart services, but not change configs. Cloud Security Engineers at a bank use PIM for all Global Admin activity — with full audit trails. SOC teams integrate PAM logs into SIEM to catch elevation abuse or privilege misuse.
Wrapping Up
PAM is about precision — giving access when it's needed, not before or forever. It's how modern IT teams stay compliant, secure and audit-ready without babysitting admin rights all day long.