The 2024 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) found that compromised credentials consistently appeared as a key attack enabler – with almost 77% of web app breaches enabled by stolen credentials.
Organizations are scrambling to protect credentials, and Just-In-Time (JIT) access has emerged as an effective strategy to address these challenges.
JIT access grants elevated permissions only when necessary, minimizing the attack surface and reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
In this article, we illustrate how combining JIT access with One Identity Unified Safeguard can help your organization fortify control over privileged accounts.
Understanding JIT access
Just-In-Time (JIT) access is a security measure that grants a user elevated privileges only when necessary, and for a limited time.
Unlike traditional privileged access management (PAM), where users may have standing privileges, JIT access ensures that privileges are granted only temporarily. Privileges are revoked as soon as the need for privileged access expires.
With the system dynamically elevating user permissions temporarily to fulfill specific job tasks or duties, and for no longer than that, the temporal scope of the attack surface is reduced. This applies to both password and session requests.
For example, an employee requiring Domain Admin privileges to perform a task can have these privileges provisioned for a short time. Once the task is completed, the elevated privileges are revoked, and the account continues to operate with standard user permissions that enable routine activities.
JIT access with One Identity Safeguard
JIT access reduces risk by limiting standing privileges – when elevated privileges are not constantly available, attackers have a smaller window of opportunity to exploit them. This way, if an attacker does gain access to a user account, they won't automatically inherit the associated privileged access.
And JIT access is easy to implement with One Identity Safeguard. Safeguard offers a suite of features designed to mitigate security risks associated with privileged access, including JIT access. Benefits include:
- Seamless integration: Safeguard JIT integrates with a wide range of systems and applications, allowing organizations to manage privileged access across their entire IT environment.
- A holistic view: Safeguard provides a centralized platform for managing all privileged access requests and approvals, giving organizations a complete view of who has access to what and when.
- Enhanced monitoring and auditing: Safeguard supplies detailed audit trails of all privileged access activities. Logs include everything from individual keystrokes to the services and accounts accessed, all saved in a searchable database.
These features help organizations meet compliance requirements and improve their security posture and allow for simple and practical implementation of JIT access.
Typical use cases for JIT access
Organizations do not need to implement JIT access everywhere. However, several scenarios exist in which it is the securest and most reasonable thing to do. Here are a few examples:
Use case 1: IT administrator elevated access
Consider an IT administrator who needs to perform a system update that requires elevated privileges. In Linux systems, administrators often use a command called SUDO (superuser do) to execute commands with the security privileges of another user – most often the root user.
The JIT access system automatically grants the necessary privileges for a limited time, allowing the administrator to complete the update. Once the task is finished, the elevated privileges are revoked, minimizing the risk of unauthorized access.
Use case 2: Third-party vendor access
Organizations commonly grant access to external vendors for maintenance or support purposes. JIT access allows organizations to control and monitor this access, ensuring that vendors have the necessary privileges only for the duration of their work.
This time-bound access reduces the risk of vendors inadvertently or maliciously accessing sensitive data.
Use case 3: Emergency access
In urgent situations, such as a security incident, administrators may need immediate access to critical systems. JIT access enables rapid, secure access without compromising security.
By implementing predefined workflows, organizations can ensure that emergency access requests are promptly reviewed, approved and revoked, allowing administrators to respond quickly to critical events – but never extending privileges longer than needed.
What are the net benefits?
Implementing JIT access yields significant net benefits across an organization’s security, compliance and operational efficiency. Arguably, the biggest benefit is JIT minimizing opportunities for lateral movement and reducing the risk of attack escalation. However, improved compliance is another important advantage.
Improved security posture
JIT through One Identity Safeguard allows for continuous monitoring of privileged sessions, so organizations can quickly detect and respond to suspicious activities, preventing potential breaches. This real-time visibility allows security teams to take immediate action, such as terminating suspicious sessions or resetting compromised passwords.
Enhanced compliance and auditability
Just-In-Time access simplifies compliance with standards such as SOX, HIPAA and NIS2. The granular audit trails generated by JIT access systems enable organizations to generate detailed reports for regulatory audits. This simplifies the audit process and helps organizations demonstrate their commitment to security and compliance.
How to implement JIT access
Implementing JIT access requires careful planning and execution. Here's a step-by-step guide to help organizations successfully adopt JIT access:
Step 1: Assess current access practices and identify gaps
Begin by thoroughly evaluating your organization's current access practices and identifying any security gaps that justify a shift to JIT access. This assessment should include:
- Inventorying privileged accounts: Identify all users with privileged access, the extent of their privileges and whether these privileges must be standing in nature.
- Reviewing access policies: Analyze current access policies to determine if they are up-to-date and aligned with industry best practices and regulatory requirements.
- Analyzing access workflows: Evaluate the efficiency and security of current access workflows, including how access requests are made, approved and monitored
- Examining current practices: Determine any challenges or inefficiencies in current access practices, such as manual processes, lack of visibility or inconsistent enforcement.
Step 2: Pilot JIT access in critical areas, fine-tuning policies
Start by piloting JIT access in critical areas of your organization, such as those with highly sensitive data or systems. This allows you to test and fine-tune your JIT access policies and workflows before rolling them out across the entire organization. During the pilot phase:
- Define clear objectives: Establish specific goals for the pilot program, such as reducing the number of privileged accounts or improving access approval times.
- Select a representative group: Choose a group of users and systems that represent a good cross-section of your organization's access needs.
- Monitor and evaluate: Closely monitor the pilot program, gather feedback from users and analyze the results to identify any areas for improvement.
Once the pilot is complete, you can adjust your JIT access policies and workflows based on the pilot program's findings to optimize their effectiveness and efficiency.
Step 3: Integrate JIT with existing IGA frameworks such as Safeguard
As a next step, integrate your Just-In-Time access with your existing security infrastructure, such as One Identity Safeguard or any other Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) framework your organization uses.
This creates a unified approach to PAM, streamlining operations and enhancing security. Successful integration can:
- Centralize management: Provide a single platform for managing all access requests, approvals and revocation – alongside monitoring of activities.
- Automate access workflows: Streamline access processes by automating tasks such as access request routing, approval and the removal of privileges.
- Improve visibility and control: Gain a holistic view of all access activities across your organization, enabling better monitoring and control.
- Enhance compliance: Ensure consistent enforcement of access policies and simplify compliance reporting.
Step 4: Implement change management and training to ensure smooth adoption
Finally, ensure a smooth transition to JIT access by implementing a comprehensive change management plan and providing adequate training to your staff. This will help users understand the benefits of JIT access – why their privileges are rapidly revoked and how this contributes to improved security posture.
It’s also worth proactively addressing any user concerns or resistance to change to ensure a smooth transition. Consider tracking user adoption to identify any challenges or areas where additional support is needed.
Get started with One Identity Safeguard now
One Identity Safeguard is a suite of tools that helps organizations secure and manage privileged accounts. It offers features like privileged password management, session management and threat analytics to protect against insider threats and external attacks.
Our Just-In-Time Privilege feature integrates with the robust AD management capabilities of One Identity Active Roles and with the advanced password management features of Safeguard to substantially mitigate the risk of cyberattacks targeting privileged accounts.
One Identity's comprehensive approach to identity security safeguards systems and data for businesses of all sizes. Get in touch now to see how Safeguard can help protect your organization against credential theft and abuse.
