Passwords, password managers and privileged access in a business.

The most valuable credentials in a company are the ones that can change everything: domain admins, firewall logins, cloud root accounts, database owners. They are often the worst protected.

For everyone: a password manager

Give staff a business password manager. It creates unique, long passwords, fills them safely and ends the habit of reuse and sticky notes. Pair it with multi-factor authentication.

For administrators: privileged access management

PAM tools go further:

• Vault admin credentials, so people never see or know them.
• Check out access for a limited time and a stated reason.
• Rotate passwords automatically after use.
• Record sessions for review and audit.
• Enforce approval workflows for sensitive systems.

Quick wins without buying anything

• Separate admin accounts from daily accounts.
• Remove shared logins, or at least rotate them when staff leave.
• Turn on multi-factor authentication for every administrator.
• Keep break-glass accounts offline, tested and monitored.
• Review who has admin rights each quarter.

Third parties

Vendors and contractors who need access should get time-limited, recorded, individually named access, not a shared password.

Why auditors like it

PAM answers who accessed what, when and why. That evidence matters in audits and after incidents.