Topic starter
24/06/2026 8:04 pm
TL;DR: Moving from standing privileges to just-in-time access can materially cut exposure, but the real challenge is deciding which accounts qualify and proving the change with identity data, according to Hydden. The transition is not a binary PAM toggle; it is a continuous governance problem that depends on usage signals, access patterns, and operational context.
Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by Hydden: “Moving from Standing to Ephemeral Privileges”.
By the numbers:
- If you migrate 100 privileged accounts that were previously 24/7 elevated to 4-hour JIT sessions used twice weekly, you reduce privileged access exposure by 95%.
Key questions
Q: What breaks when standing privilege is not removed for privileged users and service accounts?
A: Standing privilege breaks the assumption that access is only available when needed.
Q: When should organisations prioritise PAM replacement over more tuning?
A: They should consider replacement when the tool cannot support the environments they already run, especially Kubernetes, cloud-native workflows, and delegated third-party access.
Q: How do teams know whether zero standing privilege is actually working?
A: Teams should look for evidence that privileged access is time-bound, fully revoked, and impossible to reuse outside the approved session.
Practitioner guidance
- Map privileged accounts by real usage Use access frequency, session duration, entitlement-to-usage ratio, and failed authentication patterns to rank accounts for JIT migration.
- Define task-based session boundaries Set maximum session duration and approval rules by task type, then tighten scope so the granted privilege matches the stated work.
- Rebuild governance around discovery Continuously identify newly created admin accounts, contractor access, and permission accumulation so the ephemeral-access candidate list stays current.
Bottom line: Standing privilege remains a core identity risk because it outlives the actual work that needs elevation.
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25/06/2026 5:13 am
Zero standing privilege is a governance model, not a feature toggle. The article correctly shows that ephemeral access only works when teams continuously decide which accounts are still legitimate candidates for persistent elevation. That shifts PAM from enforcement alone to lifecycle judgement, where identity behaviour becomes the evidence base for access duration. Practitioners should treat JIT as an ongoing control decision, not a deployment milestone.
A few things that frame the scale:
- 91% of organisations say at least half of their privileged access is always-on, and only 1% have fully implemented just-in-time privileged access, according to a CyberArk study.
A question worth separating out:
Q: What is the difference between just-in-time access and standing privilege?
A: Just-in-time access grants privilege only for a defined task window, while standing privilege remains active until someone removes it. JIT reduces exposure by shrinking the time an identity can be abused, but standing privilege creates a constant attack surface. For NHI programs, the difference is often the difference between contained risk and persistent exposure.
👉 Read our full editorial: Just-in-time privilege models expose the real limits of standing access