Securing Privileged Access with Centralized Identity Management for a Large Educational Institution 

Is this case study, we examine the journey of a large educational institution that facing significant security challenges due to a decentralized and immature IAM/PAM environment. Operating without centralized solutions, the institution grappled with inconsistent privileged credential management, a lack of clear oversight, and manual, inefficient processes. This absence of a unified strategy created potential security vulnerabilities, hindered operational efficiency, and complicated compliance efforts. 

Highlights

Challenge

As a large educational institution operating within a green-field environment, our client lacked a centralized enterprise Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution. Privileged credentials were managed using various disparate methods across the organization, including tools like password vaults and built-in platform features. While informal guidelines for privileged access management existed, there was no comprehensive inventory of PAM use cases to fully understand the scope of privileged access. PAM processes were largely manual, relying on IT service management tickets and individual efforts. Furthermore, privileged access reviews were conducted manually, and endpoint security did not adequately address privilege escalation scenarios. 

Solution

Comprehensive IAM/PAM Assessment and Roadmap: We conducted a thorough evaluation of the educational institution's IAM/PAM posture, developing an actionable roadmap and a business case for enhancing these capabilities.

IAM/PAM Governance Operating Model Proposal: Following the assessment, KeyData Cyber proposed a governance framework to manage all IAM/PAM transformation activities, including the development of PAM standards and end-to-end PAM lifecycle processes.

PAM Use Case Discovery: Our PAM SMEs performed a detailed discovery of PAM use cases across key on-premises and cloud platforms.

PAM Solution Design and Implementation: With the PAM use case inventory complete, our SMEs designed the PAM solution architecture and implemented selected privileged access management technologies (cloud-based password vault and privileged remote access tools). This included the onboarding of privileged accounts across various platforms.

Business Benefits/Outcomes

Stronger Security, Reduced Risk: Centralized PAM and least privilege significantly decrease breach potential. 

Increased Efficiency, Lower Costs: Automation streamlines PAM processes, freeing IT resources. 

Simplified Compliance, Better Agility: Centralized control eases audits and enables faster access provisioning. 

Improved Visibility, Clear ROI: Enhanced control over sensitive assets and demonstrated financial returns.

Our work with this educational institution demonstrates the transformative power of a well-planned and executed IAM/PAM strategy. By moving them from a fragmented, manual approach to a centralized and automated system, we helped our client achieve their target state by conducting a comprehensive assessment, developing a robust governance framework, and implementing a secure and efficient foundation for managing identities and privileged access.