Privileged Access Management(PAM) Solutions
Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a framework for managing electronic and digital identities that includes business processes, rules, and technologies. Single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication, and privileged access management are all features of IAM systems (PAM). These technologies aid the security team in controlling user access to information, assets, and infrastructure in the industrial sector, both physically and digitally.
Furthermore, these technologies allow the company to define data governance rules to restrict data sharing and ensure that only necessary and relevant data is available, as well as securely store user identity and profile data. Many IAMs/PAMs enable access control based on the many roles in the organization, with each role obtaining the appropriate access permissions.
PAM is built on the 'least privilege' principle, which limits access privileges and permissions to the absolute minimum necessary to accomplish routine and approved tasks. Users, accounts, applications, systems, IoT devices, and even compute processes can be given PAM rights.
'Least privilege' offers an additional degree of security. If a cybercriminal acquires credentials to access an IoT device, for example, he is limited to the 'least privilege' permissions set for that device.
All personnel and services across the industrial enterprise are authenticated, authorized, and audited according to a consistent policy specified by management with an IAM/PAM system in place.
When it comes to IAM/PAM, there are various documented security issues with Industrial Control Systems (ICS).
Over the last few years, the number of corporate and third-party users who actively access and collect data from ICS has increased considerably. Remote users and third-party contractors are increasingly getting ICS access from security and operational teams.
Hard-coded access credentials are common in industrial applications and devices, which increases the danger of compromise and unauthorized access beyond the device itself and into the broader system.
To access apps and resources, industrial processes frequently employ a single set of credentials. Servers, cloud platforms, services, and databases can all benefit from shared accounts. Shared accounts usually have simple passwords that aren't changed very often, making them easy to crack. Furthermore, no specific behavior can be traced back to a single user, whether internal or external.
