AI-driven upgrades automate privileged access in PAM360

ManageEngine has unveiled new artificial intelligence-powered enhancements to its privileged access management platform, PAM360, focused on access governance and automation for enterprise IT environments.

The latest upgrades include intelligent least privilege access and risk remediation policy recommendations, aiming to help businesses address security gaps before they can be exploited. The additions are incorporated into PAM360's Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) module, while a new privileged task automation function is enabled through Zoho's workflow orchestration platform, Qntrl.

According to ManageEngine, traditional models of privileged access management rely heavily on static, manual processes that are frequently disconnected from the operating context. Such an approach can lead to excessive user permissions, entitlement drift and misconfigurations—issues that become more pronounced in hybrid, multi-cloud environments.

The company stated that: "Today's hybrid, multi-cloud environments have led to an explosion of human and non-human identities, creating complex access workflows and rampant privilege sprawl. To tackle this, organisations require dynamic policies that can intelligently enforce the principle of least privilege across their identity stack. With the AI-driven CIEM module in PAM360, IT security teams can now generate intelligent least privilege policies, proactively flag risky entitlements and automate remediation, helping enterprises close critical identity security gaps before they're exploited," said Ramanathan Kannabiran, Director of Product Management at ManageEngine.

The 2024 Identity Security Insights from ManageEngine noted that 68% of survey respondents identified a need for AI-driven improvements in risk-based access controls. The company's PAM360 CIEM module now features AI-generated least privilege policies, automatic identification and remediation of shadow admin risks, and real-time access and session summaries. These capabilities are designed to help organisations proactively manage access sprawl and misconfigurations with reduced manual intervention.

Concerning automated task management, the newly added privileged task automation allows enterprises to run administrative routines across workflows without the need for manual access provisioning or revocation. This automation is enabled directly within the Zoho ecosystem through its Qntrl platform, meaning administrators do not have to rely on additional third-party tools.

"Privileged task automation in PAM360 eliminates the need for administrators to manually grant and revoke necessary access privileges for every automated routine. Access is provisioned just in time, based on the task context, and revoked automatically once the task ends. This not only preserves admin bandwidth but also reduces the risk of privilege misuse caused by excessive or standing access," Kannabiran said.

PAM360's integration with Qntrl is designed to streamline privileged access workflows across enterprise environments. The automation covers processes such as vendor onboarding and offboarding, provisioning of just-in-time access with time-bound controls, and secure, hands-free transfer of privileged data. This aims to provide consistent, speedy operations while reducing the risk of privilege escalation and misuse.

ManageEngine describes PAM360 as a privileged access management solution for IT teams seeking to enforce governance over access pathways to sensitive corporate assets. The platform supports integration with other IT management tools and is currently used by over 5,000 organisations and more than one million administrators worldwide.