Privileged Access Management (PAM) is the set of tools and practices that control, secure and audit accounts with elevated rights, such as administrators, root users and service accounts. Its aim is to limit who can use powerful access, when, and under which conditions.

What is a privileged account?

An account that can do more than an ordinary user: change configurations, install software, create accounts, reach sensitive data or affect many systems. Examples include domain administrators, database administrators, root accounts, cloud administrators and service accounts with broad rights.

What does PAM include?

• Credential vaulting: storing privileged passwords and keys securely.
• Password rotation: changing credentials automatically.
• Session management: controlling and recording privileged sessions.
• Just-in-time elevation: granting rights only when needed.
• Approval workflows: requiring a reason or an approver.
• Endpoint privilege management: limiting administrator rights on devices.

How does PAM work?

Instead of knowing a privileged password, an administrator requests access through the PAM system. It checks the policy, may ask for approval and then either releases a credential or opens a session on the person’s behalf. The activity is recorded and the credential is rotated afterwards.

How is PAM different from IAM?

IAM manages all identities and their everyday access. PAM focuses on the small set of accounts that can do the most damage, and adds stronger controls around them: vaulting, approval, session recording and time limits.

Why do attackers target privileged accounts?

They open the most doors. A single administrator account can change security settings, reach data and move across systems, so attackers look for these accounts first, either directly or through lateral movement and privilege escalation.

What are the limits of PAM?

• It protects the accounts it knows about. Unknown, forgotten and shadow admin accounts stay outside.
• It controls access to a session, not always what is done inside it.
• Stolen session tokens and misused service accounts can bypass it.
• Non-human identities are often only partly covered.
• Standing privileges can remain when exceptions pile up.

What does a PAM gap look like in practice?

An organisation vaults its domain administrator passwords, but a service account with equivalent rights was created years ago for a backup tool and never added to the vault. An attacker who cracks its password has the same power as an administrator, and PAM never saw it.

What is a shadow admin?

An account that is not labelled as an administrator but holds equivalent power through permissions or nested group membership. Shadow admins are easy to miss, and they are exactly the accounts attackers look for.

What are common PAM challenges?

• Friction for administrators, who may look for ways around it.
• Coverage that stops at the accounts someone remembered to add.
• Legacy systems that are hard to bring under control.
• Complexity and cost of deployment.
• Exceptions that bring standing privileges back.

How do you get more from PAM?

Discover privileged accounts first, including non-human ones, then bring them under control. Remove standing privileges where just-in-time access can replace them, review who holds privileged roles and monitor behaviour during privileged sessions so misuse inside a legitimate session is visible.

How does PAM support compliance?

NIS2 and DORA expect strong access controls and the ability to show who had privileged access and why. PAM records and reviews support that evidence.

Sharelock complements PAM. It shows which accounts hold privileges that are excessive or unused, including ones PAM does not manage, and monitors behaviour after login, down to individual transactions and queries on critical applications.

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