Topic starter
22/01/2026 5:11 pm
TL;DR: Privilege persists when PAM records activity without shortening elevation, Keeper Security argues. Privileged workflows then stay easier to audit than to constrain, so human, service and delegated access keep expanding unless lifecycle controls actually remove standing rights.
Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by Keeper Security: “How Does Privileged Access Management Work?”.
Key questions
Q: Why do organisations need PAM and IGA when MFA and SSO are already deployed?
A: MFA and SSO help verify a user at the front door, but they do not answer whether access is appropriate after entry.
Q: How do security teams know whether PAM is actually reducing privilege risk?
A: Measure how much privileged access is permanent, how often elevation is task-scoped, and whether session activity matches the approved purpose.
Q: What breaks when privileged access is not continuously governed?
A: When privileged access is not continuously governed, standing privilege persists, dormant accounts remain usable, and the attack surface expands across human and machine identities.
Practitioner guidance
- Implement zero standing privilege for elevated roles Remove persistent admin rights where the task can be completed through temporary elevation, and make revocation automatic when the work ends.
- Inventory all privileged access paths Map human admins, service accounts, API tokens and delegated workflows so you can see where standing privilege still exists outside the PAM flow.
- Broker secrets through a controlled vault Route passwords, SSH keys and API tokens through a vault that injects credentials into sessions instead of exposing them to users or scripts.
Bottom line: Privileged access management is most effective when it shortens the lifetime and reach of elevation rather than simply recording privileged activity.
Glossary terms: Standing Privilege, Privilege Access Management, Just-in-Time Access Request, Privileged Access Session Management
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This topic was modified 12 hours ago by NHI Mgmt Group
11/10/2026 2:10 am
PAM is no longer just a control for human administrators. It is now a lifecycle discipline for any elevated identity that can reach sensitive systems, including service accounts and delegated machine workflows. That widens the governance surface from authentication into issuance, oversight and revocation, which is where most privilege risk actually accumulates.
A few things that frame the scale:
- 97% of NHIs carry excessive privileges, increasing unauthorised access and broadening the attack surface, according to the Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
- Only 44% of organisations are currently using a dedicated secrets management system, according to the 2024 State of Secrets Management Survey.
A question worth separating out:
Q: What is the difference between just-in-time access and session-level privileged access management?
A: Just-in-time access at the request level grants access for a defined period such as days or months, then removes it automatically. Session-level privileged access management is narrower, usually checking out elevated credentials for a specific interactive session and revoking them immediately after use. The main difference is granularity, with session-level controls better suited to high-risk admin actions.
👉 Read our full editorial: Standing privilege is the real test for PAM, not session logging
This post was modified 12 hours ago by NHI Mgmt Group