Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Active Directory (AD) officially reaches its quarter-century this year, after its late-1990s preview and full release with Windows Server 2000. That’s over 25 years of providing administrators with tools to manage permissions, endpoints and access for network-based resources and objects. In that time, it’s grown to become the choice of around 90% of the Global Fortune 1000s.

Managing an enterprise-level Active Directory (AD) means enterprise-grade volumes of identity accounts. Naturally, operations at this scale come with high complexity and call for intensive resources to maintain control. Manual errors can creep in as the business expands, leading to increased cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities.

Lately, the common theme in emerging identity security technology is AI. It’s all anyone wants to talk about. All of us in the IAM business have been scurrying to find a way to tell our customers and the market that, yes! We have AI! We've had it all along! If that were so obviously true, why isn’t it more broadly known? As an identity security technologist, I’ve experienced the growing pains of AI in IAM. I recently read an interesting essay by a science fiction author.

Manufacturing organizations need Privileged Access Management (PAM) for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) security because it protects critical systems and devices by ensuring that only authorized users have access. IIoT refers to a network of connected devices that work together to collect and analyze data across industrial sectors to improve operational efficiency. As IIoT becomes increasingly integral to manufacturing, securing these connected systems is more important than ever.

BYOD and SaaS adoption have been growing for years, and today, employees expect seamless access to the tools they need – wherever they work, on whatever devices they choose. They’ve taken control of their work environment, selecting applications and devices that best suit their needs, often outside of IT’s visibility. This shift has created a significant security challenge: traditional IAM, IGA, and MDM solutions were built for a controlled, managed environment.

Organizations have long focused on securing human users – employees, partners and customers. But what about the identities that aren’t tied to a person? Non-human identities (NHIs), including service accounts, bots, APIs, machine identities and more, now outnumber human identities 20:1 in most organizations! Yet, they often lack proper oversight, making them a growing security risk.

When deciding between an on-premises or cloud-based Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution, a cloud-based PAM solution is recommended because it is easier to manage, highly scalable and cost-effective. Continue reading to learn more about the differences between on-prem and cloud PAM, the pros and cons of each and the important factors to consider when choosing the right solution for your organization.

At a time when cyber threats seem to escalate daily, security teams are always on the lookout for new ways to protect their sensitive data and systems. For some, Privileged Access Workstations (PAWs) are being viewed as one solution to keep privileged accounts and critical systems safe from compromise. These are specialized workstations built for administrators and users who manage highly sensitive environments.