The Best Privileged Access Management Tools for 2024

Govern your privileged accounts to prevent data leaks and outside threats with these products.

Privileged Access Management tools, known as PAMs, provide you with the means to control authorized access across your entire network. These systems work by integrating across your network and checking individual user access and limiting privileged accounts to their respective areas while denying them from accessing sections they should be unable to access.

Here is our list of the best Privileged Access Management Tools:

1. JumpCloud Directory Platform With seamless integration possibilities with numerous services, like Active Directory, G Suite, Salesforce, Slack, and hundreds more, JumpCloud Directory Platform offers a unified cloud-based PAM.
2. Heimdal Privileged Access Management To safeguard your network, Heimdal offers several security solutions. One of these is their PAM solution, which also comes with integrated zero-trust execution and the de-escalation of user rights in response to threat detection.
3. BeyondTrust The Endpoint Privilege Management solution from BeyondTrust is one of many products the company has created with a focus on good security and usability. It offers a PAM system of excellent enterprise quality that is integrated throughout your entire network infrastructure.
4. Delinea Secret Server You can manage accounts for a range of databases, programs, network devices, and security technologies even in huge, remote systems thanks to Delinea Secret Server’s superior on-premises or cloud-based PAM focused on scalability.
5. Visulox With a stable and durable foundation that has lasted throughout its lifetime and beyond, Visulox is a PAM that is considered to be industry standard and has been available on the market for almost 20 years.
6. One Identity Safeguard Under the umbrella of ‘Safeguard’, One Identity offers a collection of tools, each of which is built to provide the many features one may anticipate from a PAM software solution.
7. Arcon Granular access control is the main feature of the enterprise-grade PAM system Arcon, which lets you configure your security infrastructure any way you like.
8. Symantec PAM It offers an easy-to-deploy solution for privileged access control in physical, virtual, and cloud environments. It monitors and logs privileged user activity across all IT resources to improve security, safeguards administrative login information limits privileged access, and actively enforces authorization rules.

These solutions are primarily used by larger businesses with numerous accounts of varying intended access levels. By removing the need to granularly monitor and control each account on a personal level, these tools elevate control to a separate and ultimately impartial system that handles the control for you. While controlling privileged access is the only real requirement a PAM system needs, many of them achieve this solution through an array of methods.

Behavioral Analysis

While this method of securing a network seems very elaborate and high-tech, it’s a fairly straightforward system that almost all large-scale PAMs employ. The fundamentals sound extravagant: machine-learning AI systems monitor your user activity and report or automatically react to suspicious activity. The reality is fairly simple, they just compare past patterns of activity with current patterns of activity, and if there are any major deviations, they flag them as potentially malicious.

Behavioral analysis systems are extremely useful in avoiding external threats, but not often overly useful for avoiding internal insecure activity, whether intentional or unintentional. They effectively can monitor whether an account has been compromised, which is very useful in the grand scheme of security concerns, but is also especially useful in proving compliance.

The Best Privileged Access Management Tools

1. JumpCloud Directory Platform

JumpCloud Directory Platform provides a unified cloud-based PAM with seamless integration capabilities with several services including Active Directory, G Suite, Salesforce, Slack, and hundreds more. Using the platform you can connect all IT resources including devices, applications, servers, and cloud-based infrastructure, all by expanding the baseline authentication under a single umbrella system. You can also quickly create or import users with a specialized admin console.

Key Features:

• Unified Identity & Device Management: Manages all IT resources, including devices, applications, servers, and cloud infrastructure under one system.
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Provides secure access with push-based, time-based one-time passwords, hardware keys, and biometrics.
• Mobile Device Management (MDM): Controls and secures mobile devices within the network.
• Network-Wide Single Sign-On (SSO): Facilitates seamless access across integrated services with one set of credentials.
• User Provisioning Control: Efficiently provisions and manages user identities with SAML SSO, JIT provisioning, and SCIM.

Why do we recommend it?

JumpCloud Directory Platform offers a comprehensive cloud-based PAM solution that integrates seamlessly with numerous services, ensuring secure and efficient management of all IT resources. Its robust MFA and MDM features provide enhanced security, while the platform’s SSO capabilities streamline access across the network.

To prevent potential phishing attacks, you can allow end users to update their JumpCloud password on their own, either online from their User Portal or immediately from their device. Using SAML SSO, Just-in-Time (JIT) provisioning, and SCIM identity management features; user identities may be quickly provisioned, unprovisioned, and managed across your entire integrated network. The system is designed to allow for adding multi-factor authentication simply. Additionally, to guarantee secure access to apps, devices, and other resources, it is simple to implement push-based, time-based one-time passwords, hardware keys, biometrics, or other techniques.

You can sign up and try JumpCloud for free, or schedule a demo for an in-depth walkthrough of exactly how the platform can work for your business demands. The platform is free for up to 10 users and 10 devices, which includes all premium advertised features—this effectively constitutes a free trial for their services without a time limit. The full platform beyond those 10 users/devices is $3/user per month or $24 for a full year.

Who is it recommended for?

This platform is ideal for businesses of all sizes seeking to unify their IT management under a single cloud-based solution. It’s particularly beneficial for organizations using multiple integrated services and requiring strong identity and device management, enhanced security through MFA, and network-wide SSO.

2. Heimdal Privileged Access Management

Heimdal provides several secure solutions focussed on protecting your network, one of which is their PAM solution, which also includes built-in zero-trust execution and the de-escalation of user rights in response to threat detection. Whenever a threat is found on the user’s device, the system instantly terminates the user session using a network-wide failsafe. From anywhere in the globe, you can also escalate or de-escalate an alerted situation directly from your mobile.

Key Features:

• Automated Security Failsafes: Instantly terminates user sessions when a threat is detected.
• Mobile Support Client: Allows remote escalation and de-escalation of alerts via mobile devices.
• Escalation Control: Provides precise control over user session elevation and de-escalation.
• Auditing Tools: Incorporates data analytics for incident investigation and routine security audits.
• Compliance Features: Supports compliance with various regulatory standards through detailed reporting and monitoring.

Why do we recommend it?

Heimdal Privileged Access Management offers robust security with automated failsafes and mobile support, ensuring quick and effective responses to threats. Its comprehensive auditing tools and compliance features make it a valuable asset for maintaining security standards and conducting thorough investigations.

With its sleek, lightweight UI, Heimdal’s PAM gives you total control over the user’s elevated session, and you can keep track of sessions, prevent system file elevation, live-cancel admin access for users or specify an escalation period. The system incorporates data analytics to aid in incident investigation and routine security audits. You can get quick access to reports with lots of graphics on topics like hostname information, typical escalation time, escalated users or files, files or processes, and more.

You can request a demo of the features from the contact page, which includes a free trial of the software for an unspecified period. Heimdal doesn’t list any prices on the website, so you’ll need to contact the company directly for a personalized quote on pricing.

Who is it recommended for?

This solution is ideal for organizations that require advanced PAM capabilities with automated threat response and mobile management. It’s particularly beneficial for businesses that need to maintain strict compliance and conduct regular security audits.

3. BeyondTrust

BeyondTrust has produced several products aimed towards excellent security and usability, and the Endpoint Privilege Management solution is no different—providing an excellent enterprise-quality PAM system that is integrated across your entire network infrastructure. The system provides established interfaces for SIEM products, vulnerability management scanners, and reputable help desk software solutions with full insight and access control.

Key Features:

• Least Privilege Enforcement: Enforces minimal privilege necessary for tasks, reducing security risks.
• Fine-Grain Policy Controls: Applies detailed, policy-based controls to applications on Windows and Mac.
• Broad Integrations: Integrates seamlessly with SIEM products, vulnerability management scanners, and help desk software.
• Audit Trails: Provides comprehensive audit trails of user activity for enhanced security and compliance.
• Behavioral Analytics: Utilizes analytics to compare user behavior against security information.

Why do we recommend it?

BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management offers robust PAM capabilities with fine-grained policy controls and extensive integrations, making it ideal for securing enterprise environments. Its least privilege enforcement minimizes security risks while comprehensive audit trails and behavioral analytics enhance security and compliance efforts.

Using BeyondTrust, you can access a complete audit trail of all user activity and compare user analytics to security information, which can be critical in expediting forensics and ultimately making compliance significantly easier. Where BeyondTrust shines is its ability to apply fine-grained policy-based controls to applications on Windows or Mac to grant standard users the necessary access to do a given task, ultimately avoiding malware threats brought on by excessive privilege

You can request personalized pricing by submitting a quote request on the BeyondTrust website. They also provide the means to arrange a one-to-one demo of the solution, where you can ask probing questions to get a detailed insight into the product’s key features and installation requirements.

Who is it recommended for?

This solution is perfect for enterprises seeking to implement strong privilege management across their network infrastructure. It’s particularly beneficial for organizations that need to integrate PAM with other security tools and require detailed auditing and behavioral analytics for compliance and forensic purposes.

4. Delinea Secret Server

Delinea Secret Server provides excellent on-premises or cloud-based PAM focussed on scalability, meaning that even in large, remote systems, you can manage accounts for a variety of databases, programs, network devices, and security technologies. You can also use the system to generate and rotate system-wide login credentials and guarantee a defined password complexity. Discovery locates privileged accounts that are unmanaged throughout your enterprise, while protection is extended to development and operational teams by DevOps workflow.

Key Features:

• Privileged Credential Control: Manages and rotates system-wide login credentials with defined password complexity.
• Behavioral Analytics: Utilizes machine learning to detect unusual user behavior for enhanced security.
• Session Recording: Records user sessions for monitoring and auditing purposes.
• Auditing and Reporting Tools: Provides comprehensive tools for auditing and reporting user activities.
• Wizard-Based Installation: Simplifies installation and integration with easy-to-follow wizards.

Why do we recommend it?

Delinea Secret Server offers a robust PAM solution designed for scalability and security. Its comprehensive credential control, behavioral analytics, and session recording capabilities ensure that even the largest and most complex networks can be effectively managed and protected. The system’s ease of installation and extensive auditing tools make it a valuable asset for maintaining security and compliance.

Steps for configuration and deployment using wizards make installation and integration simple to understand, and you can customize Secret Server to meet your exact needs by employing accessible scripts and APIs. Integrating SIEM and vulnerability scanners gives incident response visibility, while machine learning is used in conjunction with behavioral analysis to spot unusual user behavior. Meanwhile, security features such as keystroke logging, monitoring, proxying, and session recording are all parts of real-time session management.

Delinea Secret Server has a 30-day free trial, which you can sign up for through the website by entering details regarding your business. The full product comes in two packages; the Professional version comes with a variety of fundamental features, and extra features can be added to the package for greater customizability. The Platinum package includes almost all basic features and extra features within a single package, which might be perfect if you need a complete, robust package. Regardless of your choice of solution, you will need to contact Delinea directly for a customized quote on price.

Who is it recommended for?

This platform is ideal for large enterprises and organizations with complex, remote systems needing scalable PAM solutions. It’s particularly beneficial for those requiring comprehensive credential management, detailed session recording, and advanced behavioral analytics to secure their IT infrastructure and maintain compliance.

5. Visulox

Visulox is an industry-standard PAM that has been on the market for almost two decades, with a consistent and robust framework that has lasted throughout its lifetime and beyond. While the solution has some of the signs of its age, especially within the interface and overall presentation, the solution keeps up with modern systems purely through its straightforward yet substantial capabilities.

Key Features:

• Classic PAM Solution: Provides robust, industry-standard PAM capabilities that have stood the test of time.
• Application Data Access: Offers role-based access to applications running on various operating systems.
• Session Recording: Records all user sessions for thorough monitoring and auditing.
• Multi-Factor Authentication: Ensures secure access through additional authentication layers.
• Host Control: Manages access and communication for hosts using multiple common presentation protocols.

Why do we recommend it?

Visulox is a reliable and robust PAM solution with a long-standing presence in the market. Its comprehensive feature set, including multi-factor authentication and session recording, ensures secure and efficient management of privileged access. Despite its somewhat dated interface, Visulox’s substantial capabilities make it a dependable choice for modern systems.

Visulox provides a variety of features, including multi-layer security communication, role-based access to various applications, including those running under Windows, Linux, or other OT components that can be accessed through TCP/IP, and fully vetted data transfer. The system makes it possible to track who authorized each access request and when it was made for each application. Via Visulox, an application’s output is also displayed and documented, which provides you with a complete picture of all system activity. Without additional software components, any program that can be accessed over a network and use the common presentation protocols RDP, SSH, X11, Siemens S5, S7, Telnet, and 3270 can communicate with the platform.

Visulox can provide pricing upon request, and while there’s no free trial period, you can request a demo of the features. Note that large chunks of the website are in German, but can be translated with things like Google’s inbuilt translator—this is more of a minor inconvenience but is worth noting when you do your research into the product.

Who is it recommended for?

Visulox is ideal for organizations that need a tried-and-tested PAM solution with a strong emphasis on security and auditing. It’s particularly suitable for environments with diverse operating systems and applications that require robust access controls and session monitoring.

6. One Identity Safeguard

One Identity delivers a suite of tools under the blanket of ‘Safeguard’—each of these tools is designed to offer the individual components one might expect from a PAM software solution, but broken down into different sections. With role-based access management and automated processes, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords automates, regulates, and secures the process of issuing privileged credentials. The system allows you to approve password requests from anywhere, with a detailed REST API for maximum integration opportunities.

Key Features:

• Password Control: Automates and secures the issuance of privileged credentials with role-based access management.
• Behavioral Analytics: Monitors for suspicious behavior and detects internal and external threats.
• Session Recording: Manages, monitors, and records privileged sessions for detailed auditing.
• Authentication Services: Provides comprehensive authentication mechanisms for secure access.
• REST API: Offers detailed REST API for seamless integration with other systems.

Why do we recommend it?

One Identity Safeguard provides a comprehensive suite of tools that together form a robust PAM solution. Its detailed password control, behavioral analytics, and session recording capabilities ensure high security and thorough monitoring. The flexibility to choose specific components allows for tailored solutions that meet individual organizational needs.

You may manage, watch, and record the privileged sessions of administrators, remote vendors, and other high-risk users with the help of Safeguard for Privileged Sessions. In addition to acting as a proxy, the system examines protocol traffic at the application level and can reject any traffic that violates the established standards. Meanwhile, Safeguard for Privileged Analytics keeps an eye out for suspicious behavior and discovers malicious threats coming from both inside and outside your company. These individual systems, when combined, provide the password management, session recording, and behavior analytics you might expect from a single unified solution.

One Identity provides a 30-day virtual trial that takes place entirely through their website platform but might be useful for determining the exact usability of each component of the Safeguard suite. For full pricing, you will need to contact One Identity’s sales department for a quote; remember to outline exactly which parts of the Safeguard suite you are interested in. This breakdown of the components grants you an extra layer of customizability not offered by many other PAM solutions.

Who is it recommended for?

This platform is ideal for organizations seeking a customizable and comprehensive PAM solution. It’s particularly beneficial for businesses that require advanced password management, session monitoring, and behavioral analytics, with the flexibility to integrate and expand as needed.

7. Arcon

It is an enterprise-grade PAM system that provides granular access control, which allows you to set up your security infrastructure however you choose. The system provides least-privilege access control implemented across all target systems, allowing only those with designated access the ability to read/write data. To keep track of privileged identities, whether they are on-premises, in the cloud, spread throughout a distributed data center, or in a hybrid environment, you can create unified access control and governance architecture.

Key Features:

• Granular Access Control: Implements least-privilege access control across all target systems for enhanced security.
• Cloud or On-Premises: Offers deployment flexibility with both cloud and on-premises options.
• Session Recording: Records and monitors privileged sessions for comprehensive auditing.
• Password Generation: Automatically generates random passwords to prevent issues with shared credentials.
• SSO and Temp Access: Provides single sign-on and temporary access for streamlined connectivity and security.

Why do we recommend it?

Arcon offers a robust, enterprise-grade PAM system with granular access control, making it ideal for organizations that require detailed and dynamic access management. Its flexible deployment options, combined with strong session recording and password management features, ensure a high level of security and compliance across various environments.

The solution also provides the ability to automatically generate random passwords, to avoid issues with shared credentials. The virtual grouping feature offers a dynamic group setup where you may assemble multiple systems into functional groups, while SSO aids in establishing a connection to a distinct class of systems without requiring login information. Session monitoring gives all privileged actions a basic audit and real-time monitoring through a single pane of glass interface.

Arcon provides a SaaS business model, with unique pricing based on exact business requirements, which can be gathered upon request. The solution provides no free trial, but a demo can also be requested to see the system in action.

Who is it recommended for?

This platform is perfect for large enterprises and organizations with complex, distributed, or hybrid environments. It’s especially suitable for those needing detailed access control, comprehensive session monitoring, and automated password management to secure their infrastructure.

8. Symantec PAM

For privileged access control in physical, virtual, and cloud environments, Symantec PAM provides an easy-to-deploy solution that keeps track of and logs privileged user activity across all IT resources to increase security, protects administrative login information, restricts privileged access, and actively enforces authorization rules. The solution can store passwords and other private information, such as SSH keys or AWS credentials, in an internal database that protects it from malicious threats and malware.

Key Features:

• Automated Mitigation: Automatically responds to detected threats to enhance security.
• Least Privilege Enforcement: Ensures users have the minimum necessary access to perform their tasks.
• Password Storing: Securely stores passwords, SSH keys, and other credentials in an internal database.
• Session Recording: Records privileged user activities for auditing and accountability.
• Behavioral Analytics: Uses machine learning to detect and respond to abnormal user behavior.

Why do we recommend it?

Symantec PAM offers a robust, zero-trust approach to privileged access management, enhancing security across physical, virtual, and cloud environments. Its comprehensive features, including automated mitigation, secure password storage, and behavioral analytics, provide a strong defense against unauthorized access and malicious activities.

Symantec PAM takes a zero-trust stance once authenticated, and by default prevents all users from accessing any privileged credentials or accounts. To increase accountability and offer forensic proof of malicious behavior, the system may also record videos of all privileged user activity. Threat Analytics can be additionally installed to help businesses identify and stop privileged user account breaches by regularly evaluating behavior through machine learning and sophisticated algorithms, to compare current user actions against the account’s prior actions.

Much like with other Broadcom products, you will need to contact the company for a customized quote or purchase a license from one of the company partners, of which several are available. The product can be integrated into your network as a hardened appliance, rack mount equipment, an Open Virtual Appliance, an Amazon Machine Instance, or an Azure Virtual Hard Disk appliance.

Who is it recommended for?

This solution is ideal for large enterprises and organizations that need to secure privileged access across diverse IT environments. It’s particularly suitable for businesses requiring advanced threat detection and response capabilities, along with detailed session recording and password management.