Ensure Automated Password Rotation with PAM Solutions

To improve security, regularly changing current passwords with new ones is an effective way. As a result, most organizations require their employees to change their passwords on a regular basis, such as every two weeks or monthly.

“A rolling stone gathers no moss” is the main idea behind password rotation. With an old password, no one can get access if a password has been compromised, as it is changed automatically.

Most of the time, in both their personal and professional lives, users are using the same password. When the choice is given, most people like to have their logins be as simple as possible. These people usually memorize their “secure” work password, so why are they using the same on all their personal Facebook, LinkedIn, and bank account logins?

The issue with this habit is that if a site or application that is used for personal purposes is compromised, it will even put their business at significant risk.

You’re probably wondering what password rotation is. Why is it important? How often do you have to do this? What are its benefits? No worries! This blog is all about password rotation. So, be with us and get the answers to all your questions.

What is Password Rotation?

A process where the passwords of a user are reset to a new value each time on the basis of a predefined schedule These passwords are usually stored centrally in an encrypted vault after they have been rotated, where the user looking to access IT resources is given access by automatically fetching the right credentials from the vault.

Why is Password Rotation Important?

Among all the resources available to secure all accounts and systems, passwords have been the most preferred choice of protection by most of the users. When it comes to remembering complex passwords or changing passwords, humans are severely limited.They end up using the same password for multiple accounts or write them down on a sticky note, which creates a weak link in the security of IT resources in an organization.

You are putting your organization and your customers at risk from credential theft by leaving the passwords for privileged accounts static and configuring them to never expire. By impersonating login portals, for instance, targeted phishing attacks can extract administrative passwords for online accounts. Static credentials are very easy to hack and, if reused from another online system, can risk your security as they are not changed.

Throughout the lifecycle, Password Management is responsible for managing the passwords of accounts by following best practices. One of those practices, password rotation, refers to limiting the lifespan of passwords, mitigating the risk of a discrepancy by narrowing the attack window. Password rotation must be implemented and automated across every IT resource available in the organization.

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How Often Should you Rotate Passwords?

It is recommended to rotate the password once every 30 to 60 days. Even though the frequency of rotating the password can vary depending on policies, which can be defined based on various factors such as level of utilization and privilege frequency,

For example, in some organizations, a normal user may require a password rotation every 30 days, while the administrator accounts have their passwords rotated after each usage to reduce the risk of an open or known password.

You have to ensure that you are implementing tools like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and a password manager in order to reinforce your password security.

Benefits of Automatic Password Rotation

Insanely Complex Requirements are Met

With the help of password manager solutions, such as a privileged access management (PAM) solution like BeyondTrust, CyberArk, and others, your company can have unique passwords for every single account that are 100 characters long and rotated every single day (if you choose) or every single time they’re even looked at. Because of this, it becomes extremely difficult to compromise any account, and even if it is compromised, those credentials will soon be useless.

No More Blind Trust

Automatic password rotation using a PAM solution can ensure that your company can provide access to third-party vendors while also knowing exactly what they are doing when they access your systems. Usually, PAM solutions like BeyondTrust, CyberArk, and others maintain a comprehensive, detailed, audit history, session recordings, and activity logs on what that user did with the account. And again, once that 3rd party vendor checks that account back in, the password is automatically rotated and updated on the target system. So regardless of whether they wrote it down on a sticky note and stuck it on their monitor, that password is nothing more than a useless string of 100 random characters.

Compromise is Minimalized

The password usually becomes useless quickly. If it is compromised, depending on the automatic rotation rules and schedules If you had all your passwords breached today, all of these credentials would be invalid if they were released in a large data dump on the “dark web” months later. These credentials have been updated over 100 times automatically. Now, you may have a much bigger problem on your shoulders if you had all of your passwords breached, but you get the picture.

Password Rotation with PAM Solution

You can allow privileged access to PAM users by elevating the user privilege or by providing the account password for checking with the help of Privileged Account Manager. The resource and credential details required to grant privileged access are securely stored in the credential vault previously known as Enterprise Credential Vault.On the basis of the organization’s compliance rule, the password for these credentials can be rotated periodically.

The credentials that are used to perform SSO by PAM are not known to any administrator. As a result, in order to improve security, these credentials must be rotated automatically by the PAM solution.Similarly, as it is very tough to detect all the service accounts, rotate their passwords, and restart the service, it is recommended that the credentials used in service accounts be left unchanged. One can automate the rotation of service account passwords periodically with the help of the password management feature of PAM.

Wrapping Up

By forcing password rotation in your organization, you can prevent users from maintaining the same passwords across their personal and professional lives.

Sennovate’s Privileged Access Management (PAM) Solution provides a robust and automated password management module, which facilitates password rotation, ensuring that only right users are allowed access to the right credentials. With a built-in vault, passwords are stored centrally in an encrypted manner, and passwords are rotated within the vault in line with desired password rotation policies. A preview of the password rotation policy gives an insight into the frequency and scheduling of the policy and other features.

Confused about how to start with password rotation or PAM Solution? No worries! Sennovate Experts are just a call away!

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About Sennovate

Sennovate delivers custom identity and access management (IAM) and managed security operations center (SOC) solutions to businesses around the world. With global partners and a library of 2000+ integrations, 10M+ identities managed, we implement world-class cybersecurity solutions that save your company time and money. We offer a seamless experience with integration across all cloud applications, and a single price for product, implementation, and support. Have questions? The consultation is always free. Email [email protected] or call us at: +1 (925) 918-6565.