User Access Management: How to Make It Work with These 5 Tips

Are you giving your employees access to sensitive information they don’t need to see?

If so, you could be putting your business at serious risk.

A report from the Ponemon Institute revealed that 62% of end users say they have access to company data they shouldn’t see and that only 29% of IT respondents say their companies enforce a strict least privilege model.

What’s the result of giving your employees too much access?

In the State of Cybersecurity and Digital Trust 2016, researchers found that 69% of enterprise security professionals said they experienced the theft or corruption of company information by insiders.

That’s where user access management comes in.

It’s one of the best tools you can use to protect your company from malicious insiders and prevent data loss.

If you want to know how to implement user access management in your company, we’ll give you a few tips for designing a solid plan.

But first, let’s define user access management.

What is User Access Management?

User access management, also called privileged access management (PAM) is a method of controlling what information each team member can access.

This isn’t a binary process where one person has privileged access to everything, and another doesn’t.

This is a layered process whereby a privileged user has administrative access to a specific set of data.

For example, you can segment whole sets of data, or lock particular files and folders and give only certain team members the password.

To make user access management work for your company, here are a few tips for putting together a smart user access management program.

Tips for Effective User Access Management

Use the Principle of Least Privilege

The principle of least privilege requires that every user in a computing environment can only access the information and resources necessary to perform their job functions.

It’s the principle that forms the foundation of user access management.

Each employee account is initially setup with the minimum amount of privileges. After that, you can add or subtract access privileges as you see fit.

For example, if an employee needs access to a particular program or file to complete a one-time project, you can grant them access for the length of time it takes to carry out the project and then revoke it once the project is complete.

If an employee is promoted and takes on new job responsibilities, then you can add a new layer of access privileges to their account.

Limit or Eliminate Super-User Access Privileges

A “super-user” is someone who has access to almost all of your systems information.

The risks are obvious:

• A malicious insider with that much access can steal a lot of data and cause a lot of damage.
• If a super-user is exploited by any number of IT security threats, the outside hacker will now have access to almost all of your data without your firewall stopping them.

Super-user privileges might be necessary to perform certain tasks over a specified period of time, but they’re rarely needed long-term, and usually expose your organization to unnecessary risks.

Plan Privileges Ahead of Time

The best way to begin your user access management program is by predefining all of your employees’ roles and responsibilities and then determining their appropriate access levels.

From platforms to files to applications, you should administer user access privileges according to job duties and functions.

Also, if a user needs additional access, make sure that the request is vetted and approved by a manager.

Use a Password Manager

A password manager is an excellent tool for limiting your employees’ knowledge of passwords, while at the same time allowing them privileged access using those passwords.

Here’s how it works:

• An employee creates an account with your password manager
• You share a password with them that only they can access in their account
• The password manager logs in on behalf of the employee without revealing the password

So now, you don’t have the risk of employees writing down passwords or sharing them with other non-privileged users. Since they can’t see the password, they can only use it when logged into their password manager account.

For a good list of commercial password managers, check out this post from Dark Reading.

Review Privileged User Access

Every employee should have their access privileges reviewed by their managers.

It’s very dangerous to “set it and forget it” when it comes to user access management.

You should actively monitor employees’ behavior by logging keystrokes, recording logins, reporting on tasks performed, and monitoring behavior when employees have access to critical data.

Analyze this information to determine whether or not your employees are even using the resources they have privileges for,  and whether or not your employees are using the information appropriately.

This is one way you can detect malicious activity and configure a user’s access levels.

Going Beyond User Access Management

User access management is just one tool for mitigating security threats, but it’s a great step toward dramatically more secure operations.

Of course, there are many more threats to worry about.

You need to know how to prevent phishing, how to prevent spam, and how to protect against ransomware among many other cybersecurity concerns.

Those problems aren’t going to be solved by privileged access management.

For total IT security, you’re going to need the help of a proven IT security company.

Where can you find a reputable and reliable IT security company?

Right here at Solid State Systems.

Easily Setup User Access Management and Other IT Security Systems

We’ll consult you on your implementation of user access management, and then audit and analyze the rest of your IT security systems. From firewalls to mobile security, we’ll exploit and patch the holes in your current security posture for exceptional protection against inside and outside threats. If you want to optimize your infrastructure for streamlined performance and enhanced security, we can help.

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Also published on Medium.