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Granting privileged access to an end user’s device is a common practice in organizations. Admins do it to give end users the ability to manage administrative tasks such as downloading applications and accessing resources on their devices. It can be done manually, which is cumbersome and introduces risks. Or it can be managed to improve user productivity without requiring additional IT help or intervention, so that IT can focus on higher priority tasks. Managed service providers (MSPs) have the added challenge of making it all work at scale.
It’s an important topic, because having unnecessary administrators or privileged accounts, even on a temporary basis, may increase the risk of compromise and lead to lateral movement through the IT network and exfiltration of organizational data.
According to Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report, 74% of data breaches involved the human element, which includes social engineering attacks, errors, or misuse. Privileged accounts leave the proverbial door open and maximize the harm that attackers can cause through these types of simple, drive-by attacks.
Given those risks, IT admins should have a clear understanding of what they are trying to accomplish when providing privilege access while minimizing the number of users who have access to sensitive data and assets, following the principle of least privilege.
Admins should keep in mind that making entitlements management too restrictive can introduce obstacles to users when they’re trying to get work done and dampen their buy-in to other security initiatives. Entitlements management should be aligned with IT’s objectives for business enablement while enhancing endpoint security postures.
Challenges that IT Admins and MSPs Face
Likewise, MSPs are on the frontlines against the ongoing cyber threats that many organizations face. They’re always actively focused on delivering solutions to enhance their clients’ security, without sacrificing efficiency and user experience. They’re also service organizations that are challenged with managing their time among the clients they serve. Limiting or removing elevated privileges on end users’ devices addresses both of those problem areas by safely balancing productivity and security.
Often, elevating privileges can be a tedious, manual process. IT admins and MSPs have to set up, maintain, and remember to remove the admin permissions for end users. Depending on the IT workload, resources, and number of end users to support, removing privileges on a timely basis can easily fall through the cracks. Human errors such as these can be detrimental to the security and compliance of the company.
Workplaces are dynamic, and a manual approach won’t meet requirements for productivity or security. Going a step further, IT admins and MSPs are looking to simplify the way that they provide elevated privileges, on an as-needed basis, which can also automatically expire after a specific period of time.
JumpCloud Temporary Elevated Device Privileges makes entitlement management an opportunity instead of a challenge or obstacle for end users. It allows IT admins the ability to automatically elevate and remove a user’s permissions on a device for a specific time frame. It also increases efficiency for an organization while optimizing its security posture and meeting compliance requirements.
Why JumpCloud Temporary Elevated Device Privileges
JumpCloud Temporary Elevated Device Privileges makes entitlement management an opportunity instead of a challenge or obstacle for end users. It allows IT admins the ability to automatically elevate and remove a user’s permissions on a device for a specific time frame. It also increases efficiency for an organization while optimizing its security posture and meeting compliance requirements.
Key Capabilities of JumpCloud Temporary Elevated Device Privileges
- Manage user privileges: Ability to set an individual user’s privilege on a device for a selected period of time.
- Automate user privilege expiration: Elevated privilege on a device will automatically expire and return to the previous setting without the admin having to take additional (manual) steps.
- Data insight events: Data or events are generated when the privilege is elevated, used, automatically expired, and returned to its previous state.
Key Benefits of JumpCloud Temporary Elevated Device Privileges
- Decreased IT administration: Easily manage and automate elevated privileges on end users’ devices on an as-needed basis, saving time and optimizing IT resources.
- Increased IT efficiency: Admins can move on to other tasks without having to worry about manually deleting or resetting a user’s privilege on their device.
- Reduced security risks: User privileges are automatically removed when it’s no longer necessary for the optimization of the company’s security posture.
- Easy reporting for compliance: Admins have all of the relevant logs at their disposal to be able to audit, troubleshoot, and meet compliance requirements around elevated privileges on devices.
Try JumpCloud Temporary Elevated Device Privileges Today!
Interested in empowering users to complete tasks that require elevated privileges using Temporary Elevated Device Privileges or experiencing the unified identity and cross-OS device management features of JumpCloud’s open directory platform?
Take action and sign up for a free trial today to see how IT can be safer and more responsive. The open directory even makes it possible to utilize your existing device management and/or identity providers (IdP).
