Help CenterMicrosoft 365 (M365) is a powerful platform for businesses, providing extensive collaboration and productivity tools. However, its vast capabilities make it a target for cybercriminals. Managing permissions and ensuring the proper use of privileged accounts is essential for maintaining security. Microsoft’s Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is a key tool to manage, monitor, and control privileged access in M365 environments. This article explores the role of PIM, best practices for managing permissions, and how Griffin31 can help you monitor for misconfigurations and alert you to changes in real-time.
What is Privileged Identity Management (PIM)?
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is a feature in Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) that allows organizations to manage, monitor, and limit privileged access to resources. It provides a way to ensure that administrative roles are only granted for the time they are needed and can help reduce the risk of excessive, unnecessary, or misused privileges.
Key features of PIM include:
- Just-In-Time (JIT) Access: Privileged roles are granted only when needed and for a limited time.
- Approval Workflow: Administrators can require approval to activate a role, adding an extra layer of security.
- Role Assignment Alerts: PIM can notify you when roles are assigned, activated, or escalated.
- Access Reviews: Regularly review and audit who has access to privileged roles and whether they still need it.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Require MFA before activating any privileged role to ensure the identity of the user.
Best Practices for Managing Permissions and Privileged Access with PIM
1. Implement Just-In-Time (JIT) Access
One of the most effective security practices is ensuring that privileged roles are only active when absolutely necessary. JIT access, enabled through PIM, minimizes the attack surface by reducing the time that an account holds privileged permissions.
- Best Practice: Configure JIT for all high-risk roles, such as Global Admins and Exchange Admins, and limit the time frame to the minimum required to complete necessary tasks. This ensures that privileged access is not left open for extended periods.
2. Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for Role Activation
Requiring MFA for users activating privileged roles adds a crucial layer of security. This prevents attackers from gaining unauthorized access to privileged accounts, even if they have compromised user credentials.
- Best Practice: Always enforce MFA for privileged role activation. This can be easily set up within PIM and ensures that only verified users are granted administrative access.
3. Utilize Approval Workflows
For highly sensitive roles, you can configure approval workflows to ensure that an additional layer of verification is performed before any elevated privileges are granted.
- Best Practice: Use approval workflows for critical administrative roles. This requires another user or admin to confirm the need for elevated access, reducing the risk of privilege abuse or accidental assignment of roles.
4. Conduct Regular Access Reviews
Even with PIM in place, it's essential to conduct regular access reviews to ensure that users who no longer need privileged roles are removed from them. This also helps ensure compliance with internal and external regulations.
- Best Practice: Set up regular automated access reviews within PIM, ensuring that users with privileged access are routinely audited. Make sure to review not only which users have access, but also how often roles are being activated and for what purposes.
5. Set Up Role Activation Notifications
Setting up alerts when roles are activated helps administrators stay informed about changes in access, enabling them to respond quickly if any suspicious activity is detected.
- Best Practice: Configure real-time alerts for role activations, escalations, and assignment changes. This helps keep track of administrative activities and identify unusual patterns that may signal a security issue.
Using Griffin31 to Monitor Misconfigurations and Alert for Changes
While PIM is a powerful tool for managing privileged access, it is critical to continuously monitor for misconfigurations and ensure that permissions are correctly configured across the environment. This is where Griffin31 comes in.
Griffin31 provides automated security assessments for your M365 environment, helping you identify any misconfigurations that could lead to security risks. It continuously monitors your environment and alerts you to changes that may impact security.
How Griffin31 Helps with Privileged Access Management:
- Detect Misconfigurations: Griffin31 regularly checks your M365 security settings, including PIM configurations, to ensure that all roles and permissions are aligned with best practices.
- Real-Time Alerts: Receive instant notifications when changes are made to privileged roles or when administrative activities deviate from your established policies.
- Risk Prioritization: Griffin31 analyzes and prioritizes the risks based on your organization’s specific configuration, ensuring that the most critical vulnerabilities are addressed first.
- Automated Security Reviews: Griffin31 automates the review of privileged roles, ensuring that the permissions granted are necessary and compliant with your security policies.
Best Practice: Use Griffin31 to complement PIM by regularly assessing your permissions configuration, detecting any drift from security baselines, and receiving real-time alerts for any changes. This ensures that privileged access is tightly controlled and that potential vulnerabilities are addressed as they arise.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Managing Privileged Access
Even with PIM and a strong security framework in place, missteps in managing privileged access can leave your M365 environment vulnerable. Here are common pitfalls to avoid:
1. Granting Permanent Privileges
One of the most common mistakes is granting permanent access to privileged roles without time restrictions.
- Pitfall: Leaving administrative roles permanently assigned can increase the attack surface, making it easier for attackers to exploit privileged accounts.
- Solution: Always use JIT access through PIM, granting privileges only when needed and revoking them after use.
2. Not Regularly Reviewing Role Assignments
Privileges that are no longer needed may remain assigned to users indefinitely if reviews are not conducted regularly.
- Pitfall: Over time, this can lead to excessive privileges across your organization, increasing the risk of privilege misuse.
- Solution: Use PIM’s built-in access review capabilities and tools like Griffin31 to automate reviews and detect unnecessary permissions.
3. Failing to Use MFA for Privileged Roles
Skipping MFA for privileged role activation leaves your environment vulnerable to compromised accounts.
- Pitfall: Without MFA, attackers who have access to user credentials can easily activate administrative privileges.
- Solution: Always enforce MFA for role activation through PIM to ensure that only authorized users can activate privileged roles.
4. Ignoring Alerts or Misconfiguration Warnings
Failing to act on alerts regarding misconfigurations or changes to privileged roles can lead to security breaches.
- Pitfall: Alerts and warnings from PIM or Griffin31 that are ignored can result in unchecked vulnerabilities.
- Solution: Configure alerts to notify the appropriate administrators, and use Griffin31’s real-time alerts to track and respond to changes quickly.
Conclusion
Effectively managing permissions and privileged access in M365 is essential to maintaining a secure environment. Microsoft’s Privileged Identity Management (PIM) offers a range of tools to limit privileged access, enforce just-in-time access, and require multi-factor authentication.
However, even with PIM, it is crucial to continuously monitor your configurations and ensure they are aligned with best practices. Griffin31 offers automated security assessments and real-time alerts, helping you identify misconfigurations and track changes in your security settings.
By leveraging both PIM and Griffin31, you can establish a comprehensive privileged access management strategy that not only secures your M365 environment but also ensures that your administrative activities are always in line with the latest security standards.