Taming the Keys to the Kingdom: Beginning Your PAM Journey in Zero Trust (Activity 1.4.1 “Implement System and Migrate Privileged Users Part 1”)  

We’ve been building our Zero Trust foundation by focusing on identity, authentication baselines, and introducing basic dynamic access. Now, it’s time to confront one of the highest-risk areas in any enterprise: privileged access. Unmanaged or poorly controlled privileged accounts (e.g., system administrators) are prime targets for attackers and a significant source of lateral movement in a breach. This is why Zero Trust Activity 1.4.1: Implement System and Migrate Privileged Users Part 1 is a critical activity. 

This activity is the formal step where an organization procures and implements a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution specifically designed to support critical privileged use cases. It’s about getting the necessary tooling in place and starting the process of bringing privileged access under centralized control. A key initial step is to identify application/service integration points to determine how well they can work with the chosen PAM solution.  

Important:  Consider evaluating the PAM solution as part of your Identity Provider solution (discussed more in 1.2.2) as modern, mature Identity Providers provide PAM solutions. 

The focus for this first part of the migration is on transitioning those applications and services that easily integrate with the PAM tool, specifically targeting the control of emergency/built-in accounts within these systems. 

The concrete outcomes for Activity 1.4.1 are: 

• Privilege Access Management (PAM) tooling is implemented. 

• Applications and devices that support and do not support PAM tools are identified. 

• Applications that support PAM now use PAM for controlling emergency/built-in accounts. 

• This activity is intentionally focused on the initial implementation and the “quick wins” of integrating with easily compatible systems and securing critical default accounts. 

Solutions for Achieving Implement System and Migrate Privileged Users Part 1 

Successfully navigating Activity 1.4.1 involves selecting the right PAM technology and executing a targeted initial rollout: 

Select a PAM platform that aligns with your organization’s needs and the critical privileged use cases you need to address (e.g., access to servers, databases, network devices, critical applications). 

Deploy the core components of the PAM solution, including credential vaults, session managers, and policy engines. 

Identify Application/Service Integration Support: 

Conduct a targeted discovery effort to identify applications and services that have privileged accounts. 

For these identified systems, assess their compatibility with the chosen PAM solution. This involves examining available connectors, APIs, or standard protocols the PAM tool can leverage for managing accounts and sessions. Categorize applications based on their ease of integration. 

Prioritize and Migrate Easily Integrable Systems (Focusing on Emergency/Built-in Accounts): 

Based on the integration assessment, prioritize applications and services that offer straightforward integration with the PAM solution. 

Within these easily integrated systems, focus the initial migration effort on bringing emergency or built-in privileged accounts (like local administrators, root accounts, or default application admin accounts) under PAM control. These accounts are often high-risk due to their default status and potential for shared credentials. 

Configure the PAM solution to manage the credentials of these accounts (secure storage, rotation) and enforce access policies. 

This phase is about getting the PAM infrastructure operational and demonstrating value by securing some of the most vulnerable privileged accounts in easily manageable systems. 

Okta and Activity 1.4.1: Providing the Tooling and Initial Integration Points 

Okta, through its dedicated Okta Privileged Access offering, directly provides the necessary tooling to satisfy the core requirement of procuring and implementing a PAM solution. It also facilitates the initial steps of integration and managing specific types of privileged accounts. 

How Okta Satisfies These Needs: 

PAM Tooling is Implemented: Okta Privileged Access is a specific product designed to provide PAM capabilities. It offers features like privileged infrastructure access, credential vaulting, and session monitoring. 

Managing Emergency/Built-in Accounts: Okta Privileged Access is capable of managing access to accounts on target systems, including local administrator or root accounts on servers. Its features for onboarding accounts and managing credentials directly support using the PAM solution for controlling “emergency/built-in accounts” in integrated applications/devices. 

Supporting Application/Service Integration (Initial Phase): Okta Privileged Access provides connectors and agents designed to integrate with common infrastructure components like Windows and Linux servers. For applications and devices that rely on OS-level privileged accounts, Okta Privileged Access can manage access to these accounts, thereby integrating with those underlying systems. This helps in addressing the identification of “applications and devices that support… PAM tools” (specifically those supported by Okta Privileged Access’s connectors) and transitioning those that “easily integrate.” 

Nuances: 

Identification of All Applications/Devices and PAM Support Status: Activity 1.4.1 requires identifying all relevant applications and devices and determining their support for PAM tools (not just Okta’s). While Okta Privileged Access has discovery capabilities for accounts on supported systems, a comprehensive enterprise-wide discovery of all applications/devices and a detailed assessment of their general PAM compatibility (beyond just Okta’s connectors) often requires broader discovery tools and processes as discussed in Activity 1.1.1, rather than solely relying on the PAM tool itself at this initial stage. 

Focus on “Easily Integrate”: The assessment of what constitutes “easy integration” is relative and depends on the specific application and the available connectors in Okta Privileged Access. While Okta provides integrations for common platforms, identifying all applications that “easily integrate” across a diverse enterprise requires the integration assessment step outlined in the solution, which is a process using the PAM tool’s capabilities, but not solely an outcome of the tool’s implementation itself. 

The Technical Buyer’s Starting Point: 

Activity 1.4.1 is your organization’s formal entry into the critical domain of Privileged Access Management within your Zero Trust journey. It’s about getting the right tool in place and taking the first strategic steps to secure those high-value targets – your privileged accounts. Implementing a PAM solution like Okta Privileged Access allows you to centralize control over these powerful identities. For technical buyers, the focus here is on deploying the core PAM capability and using its initial integration points to quickly secure easily connected systems and, most importantly, those vulnerable emergency and built-in accounts. This provides immediate risk reduction and builds internal expertise with the PAM platform before tackling the more complex integrations in later stages. It’s about taking decisive action to protect your most sensitive access pathways. 

Pillar: User 

Capability: 1.4 Privileged Access Management (PAM) 

Activity: 1.4.1 Implement System and Migrate Privileged Users Part 1 

Phase: Target Level  

Predecessor(s): None 

Successor(s): The remaining User Pillar Activities can be downloaded in a single PDF here.