The Top 4 Challenges of Managing Privileged Access in Modern Infrastructure

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As organizations move from legacy IT systems to cloud-native, ephemeral infrastructure, the way privileged access is handled must evolve. Traditional Privileged Access Management (PAM) tools, designed for static environments, struggle to address the dynamic, automated, and highly distributed nature of modern infrastructure.

In this post, we explore four key challenges modern infrastructure presents for privileged access and how organizations can overcome them using Teleport.

Risk Introduced by Credentials and Access Sprawl

Modern environments rely heavily on credentials – SSH keys, API tokens, passwords, encryption keys, and other secrets – to secure resources. However, static credentials introduce significant security risks:

• Static credentials: Long-lived keys or passwords remain valid until manually rotated, increasing exposure risk.
• Human error: Managing credentials manually creates opportunities for accidental leaks.
• Complex rotation: Rotating secrets regularly is labor-intensive and often incomplete.
• Storage vulnerabilities: Credentials stored in code, config files, or shared drives can be exposed.
• Scalability limitations: More users and resources increase the likelihood of errors or oversight.

Legacy PAM tools rely heavily on static credential management, leaving organizations exposed.

Teleport’s Solution: Eliminate credentials with cryptographic identity.

• Users, machines, and resources authenticate via cryptographic identity rather than static secrets.
• Ephemeral certificates are automatically issued for just-in-time access, expiring after each session.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) and Device Trust ensure that only trusted devices gain access.
• Session moderation and audit capabilities provide additional control for security teams.

Highly Scalable, Ephemeral Infrastructure

Modern infrastructure is dynamic and ephemeral, with resources spinning up and down automatically. Traditional PAM struggles to maintain consistent access across such environments:

• Ephemeral resources: Containers, VMs, and other resources appear and disappear rapidly.
• Frequent scaling: Access policies must adapt continuously to match changing resource counts.
• High complexity: Multi-cloud, hybrid, and distributed environments make policy management difficult.
• Manual burden: Legacy tools require constant manual updates, creating overhead and mistakes.
• Visibility challenges: Tracking active resources and access can be difficult.

Teleport’s Solution: Unified, just-in-time access.

• Dynamically adjusts to ephemeral and hybrid environments.
• Provides ephemeral certificates that expire with sessions.
• Enables consistent, automated access policies across all resources – cloud, on-prem, containers, and more.

Managing Access Across Complex Infrastructure

As infrastructure grows, it spans multiple platforms, resource types, and geographic locations, complicating access management:

• Cross-platform complexity: Different environments require separate configurations.
• Diverse resource types: Databases, Kubernetes clusters, and cloud resources have unique access requirements.
• Geographical distribution: Global enforcement and auditing is challenging.
• Misconfiguration risks: Multiple configurations increase vulnerability.
• Limited visibility: Tracking access across all resources becomes difficult.

Teleport’s Solution: Unify access across multiple environments.

• Centralized, identity-based access policies for all platforms and resource types.
• Simplified onboarding/offboarding based on roles and groups.
• Fine-grained RBAC permissions tailored per resource.
• Automated session recording and monitoring for full auditability and compliance.

Limited Compatibility with Modern DevOps Tools

Agile teams require seamless integration with DevOps pipelines and automation tools. Legacy PAM systems often hinder workflows:

• Delayed approvals: Manual processes slow development timelines.
• Limited automation: Lack of integration with CI/CD pipelines or IaC platforms creates friction.
• Shadow IT risk: Developers may bypass restrictive systems, introducing security gaps.
• Fragmented tooling: Incompatibility with Kubernetes or cloud-native tools leads to inconsistent access policies.

Teleport’s Solution: Seamless integration with DevOps workflows.

• Supports CI/CD pipelines, Kubernetes clusters, databases, and IaC platforms.
• Just-in-time access provisioning allows developers to work without waiting for manual approvals.
• Unified access for both human and machine identities ensures consistent policies.
• Security is embedded directly into agile workflows, balancing productivity with compliance.

Teleport: Access Built for Modern Infrastructure

Teleport provides a modern secure infrastructure access platform, supporting:

• Servers, Kubernetes clusters, databases, cloud environments, Windows desktops, and web applications
• Cryptographic identity and ephemeral certificates for just-in-time, least-privileged access
• Removal of static credentials, VPNs, and bastion host overhead
• Robust session recording and auditing for SOC 2, FedRAMP, PCI DSS 4.0, DORA, and other compliance standards
• Scalable, cloud-native design optimized for dynamic environments

By unifying access control, automating policy enforcement, and providing visibility across ephemeral, hybrid infrastructure, Teleport enables organizations to secure modern infrastructure without sacrificing developer productivity or agility.

Conclusion

Modern infrastructure introduces new complexities that legacy PAM tools cannot handle. Credentials sprawl, ephemeral resources, complex environments, and DevOps integration challenges all demand a modern approach to privileged access.

By adopting solutions like Teleport, organizations can:

• Reduce credential-related risks
• Scale access securely across dynamic environments
• Maintain consistent policies across diverse infrastructures
• Integrate security seamlessly into DevOps workflows

Is your privileged access strategy ready for the realities of modern, cloud-native infrastructure?