Cyber insurance has become a key component of risk management for many organizations. However, it can be difficult to keep up with cyber insurance requirements and avoid high premiums. One of the best ways to secure better cyber insurance coverage and premiums is by implementing a solid Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution.
PAM solutions mitigate security risks by allowing you to secure, control, monitor, analyze and govern privileged access across multiple environments and platforms. Privileged accounts are a prime target for cyber-attacks. These accounts grant elevated access to an organization's IT environment, making them a gateway to catastrophic breaches. The LastPass hack serves as a recent example, where a master password was stolen, granting unauthorized access to sensitive corporate databases. This incident underscores the critical need for robust Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions to protect organizations from the rise of similar attacks.
The escalation of breaches
The LastPass breach exposed the devastating consequences that can result from a compromised privileged account. LassPast revealed that hackers stole a master password to highly restricted corporate databases by targeting a senior engineer’s home computer and installing a keylogger. The breach gave access to the development environment, portions of the LastPass source code and important technical information. This included incredibly sensitive production databases and password vaults. Incidents like this highlight the alarming potential for breaches to escalate into successful supply chain attacks.
The role of PAM in defending against supply chain attacks
According to the 2022 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, a whopping 62% of system intrusion incidents were facilitated through an organization's external partners. A sound PAM implementation provides significant protection against this attack vector, and with advanced auditing, reporting and logging, enables organizations to do post-breach forensics. These features enable thorough analysis and investigation following a security incident, aiding in understanding the extent of a breach and identifying potential vulnerabilities.
Choosing the right PAM solution
When starting your journey towards implementing a PAM solution, it’s crucial to establish clear objectives and define success criteria for your business. Mission critical systems, like PAM, are more than just the software you buy – they’re a mindset, process and technology that combine within your organization to ensure privileged access is only done securely.
It’s crucial to identify the problems you’re looking to solve, then ask the vendors to help you define the best solution for your environment and business. This will give you a chance to experience what working with each vendor is like and is vitally important when selecting such a critical partner. This approach will ensure you get what you need to deliver the success your business needs to keep moving forward.
PAM is a collection of requirements, so selecting a vendor who can help you with more than one of those will be a significant advantage.
Conclusion
Protecting your organization from cybercrime is a top priority, and cyber insurance is one of the best ways to do it. Implementing a robust PAM solution is vital to preventing unauthorized access and ultimately securing the best cyber insurance at the lowest cost to your organization. It guarantees cyber insurers that your risk levels are low, enabling your protection against cybercrime, and getting you the best coverage at the most affordable premiums.
For a complete view of why IAM matters in the context of cyber insurance, see our on-demand webcast. Also, check out our comprehensive guide to cyber insurance and IAM.
