Cybercriminals don’t break in—they log in. That’s why securing privileged accounts is one of the biggest challenges organizations face today. However, implementing privileged access management (PAM) isn’t always straightforward—many organizations face challenges such as visibility gaps, integration issues, and resistance from users.
In this article, we’ll explore the biggest PAM challenges that businesses encounter, the security risks they pose, and practical solutions to overcome them. We’ll also look at how Splashtop Secure Workspace enhances privileged access security with seamless remote access, real-time monitoring, and multi-layer authentication.
Let’s dive in.
Privileged Access Management (PAM): A Key Component of Cybersecurity
Think about how many people in your company have access to critical systems—IT admins, security teams, database managers. Now imagine what could happen if just one of those accounts fell into the wrong hands. That’s exactly why Privileged Access Management is a fundamental part of modern cybersecurity.
Privileged accounts have elevated permissions, allowing users to modify essential business systems, access sensitive data, and manage security settings. These accounts are prime targets for cybercriminals because they provide unrestricted access to infrastructure, applications, and confidential information. If compromised, they can lead to devastating data breaches, ransomware attacks, or full system takeovers.
Why PAM is Critical for Data Security & Compliance
As cyber threats evolve, organizations must protect privileged accounts from unauthorized access, insider threats, and credential theft—three of the biggest cybersecurity risks today. Without a strong PAM strategy, companies face:
Unauthorized Access – Weakly protected privileged accounts can be exploited by hackers, leading to security breaches.
Insider Threats – Employees or contractors with excessive access can cause damage, whether intentional or accidental.
Credential Theft – Stolen admin credentials are often sold on the dark web, giving attackers direct entry into an organization’s most valuable systems.
Regulatory Violations – Many industries, such as healthcare, finance, and government, must comply with strict regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and NIST. Failing to secure privileged accounts can result in fines, legal consequences, and reputational damage.
How PAM Prevents Cyber Threats & Ensures Compliance
A well-implemented PAM solution helps organizations:
Limit privileges – Enforces least privilege access so users only get the permissions they need—nothing more.
Monitor privileged sessions – Provides real-time tracking and logs all privileged access, flagging unusual activity before it leads to a breach.
Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) – Ensures that even if credentials are stolen, attackers can’t access critical systems.
Automate credential management – Rotates and vaults passwords to prevent reuse or unauthorized sharing.
Maintain compliance – Creates audit logs that help businesses meet regulatory standards effortlessly.
Why PAM is No Longer Optional
As businesses continue to adopt hybrid and remote work models, privileged access management is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. Companies that fail to secure privileged accounts risk data loss, financial damage, legal penalties, and operational disruptions.
6 Critical PAM Challenges & Effective Solutions to Mitigate Them
Implementing PAM is crucial for cybersecurity, but it’s not without its challenges. Many organizations struggle with visibility, access control enforcement, compliance, and integration—issues that can leave security gaps if not addressed properly. Below are six major privileged access management challenges and practical solutions to overcome them.
1. Lack of Visibility and Discovery of Privileged Accounts
The Challenge: Many organizations don’t have a clear inventory of their privileged accounts. Shadow IT, shared credentials, and unmonitored admin accounts create security blind spots, making it easy for attackers to exploit unnoticed vulnerabilities.
The Solution:
Conduct a comprehensive audit to discover all privileged accounts, including dormant and shared credentials.
Deploy automated PAM solutions with AI-driven discovery and real-time monitoring to continuously track, manage, and classify privileged accounts.
Implement session monitoring to gain real-time insights into privileged account activity.
2. Credential Theft and Privilege Escalation Attacks
The Challenge: Cybercriminals often use phishing, brute force attacks, or credential stuffing to steal admin passwords. Once inside, they escalate privileges to gain unrestricted access to critical systems.
The Solution:
Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all privileged access to prevent unauthorized logins.
Implement just-in-time (JIT) access to provide temporary privileged access instead of permanent admin rights.
Use automated password rotation to prevent attackers from reusing stolen credentials.
3. Inefficient or Poorly Enforced Access Controls
The Challenge: Many organizations fail to enforce the principle of least privilege, leading to excessive access permissions. Overprivileged accounts increase the attack surface and expose sensitive systems to both insider threats and external attacks.
The Solution:
Adopt a least privilege approach, ensuring users only have access to the resources they need.
Use role-based access control (RBAC) to standardize permissions based on job roles.
Regularly review and adjust privileges to prevent privilege creep.
4. Compliance and Audit Challenges
The Challenge: Meeting compliance requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and NIST requires detailed access logs, regular audits, and strict security policies. Without a centralized PAM strategy, organizations struggle to track privileged access and prove compliance.
The Solution:
Enable automated logging and reporting for privileged sessions to ensure audit readiness.
Enforce policy-based access control to align with regulatory requirements.
Schedule regular security audits to identify and resolve access vulnerabilities.
5. Integration Challenges with Existing IT Infrastructure
The Challenge: Many organizations use a mix of on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, making PAM integration complex. Legacy systems, incompatible software, and siloed IT operations can create gaps in privileged access security.
The Solution:
Choose a PAM solution with broad integration capabilities, supporting both on-prem and cloud environments.
Use API-based integrations to connect PAM tools with existing IAM (Identity and Access Management) systems.
Implement single sign-on (SSO) to streamline access management across platforms.
6. User Resistance and Operational Complexity
The Challenge: Employees and IT teams often resist PAM solutions due to perceived complexity or workflow disruptions. This can lead to workarounds like sharing credentials or disabling security features, undermining PAM effectiveness.
The Solution:
Ensure a user-friendly PAM implementation that minimizes disruptions to daily operations.
Provide clear training and guidelines on privileged access security best practices.
Automate PAM workflows to reduce friction and simplify access management for employees.
While privileged access management challenges can create roadblocks, the right approach ensures stronger security, compliance, and operational efficiency. By implementing visibility tools, enforcing strict access controls, integrating PAM with existing IT systems, and driving user adoption, organizations can build a robust PAM strategy that minimizes risk.
How PAM Safeguards Remote Access with Multi-Layer Security
Remote access is a powerful tool for modern IT environments, enabling flexibility and efficiency for businesses. However, ensuring secure remote access is crucial, as attackers often target privileged accounts. With the right security measures—such as Privileged Access Management, multi-factor authentication, and session monitoring—organizations can confidently enable remote work while protecting their critical systems. Here’s how PAM mitigates risks and enhances security:
Blocking Unauthorized Access with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Weak or stolen credentials are a leading cause of cyberattacks, making it essential to implement stronger authentication measures.
Requires multi-factor authentication for privileged sessions, adding an extra layer of security beyond passwords.
Protects against credential-based attacks, including phishing and brute force attempts.
Ensures only verified users gain access, even if their credentials are compromised.
Enforcing Least Privilege Access for Remote Users
Over-provisioned access rights increase the risk of privilege escalation attacks, allowing cybercriminals to gain excessive control.
Implements least privilege access, restricting users to only the permissions necessary for their tasks.
Prevents privilege escalation attacks by limiting administrative access.
Supports just-in-time-access, granting temporary permissions instead of permanent rights.
Monitoring and Controlling Remote Sessions in Real-Time
Unmonitored privileged sessions create opportunities for attackers to operate undetected. Organizations need complete visibility into remote access activities.
Records and tracks all privileged sessions to ensure accountability.
Detects and flags unusual behavior, such as access from unknown locations.
Provides real-time alerts to security teams for potential threats.
Why PAM is Essential for Secure Remote Work
As hybrid work models expand, organizations must adopt stronger privileged access controls to protect sensitive systems. PAM ensures that:
Remote employees and third-party vendors access only the systems they need, when they need them.
Privileged accounts are continuously monitored to prevent unauthorized actions.
Security policies are applied consistently across all remote access points to reduce risk.
Enhancing Privileged Access Security with Splashtop Secure Workspace
Managing privileged access should be seamless, secure, and efficient—not a barrier to productivity. Splashtop Secure Workspace delivers a streamlined, enterprise-grade PAM solution designed to tackle the biggest challenges in privileged access management. Splashtop Secure Workspace strengthens privileged access security with secure remote access, multi-layer authentication, real-time monitoring, and granular controls—ensuring protection without disrupting business operations.
How Splashtop Secure Workspace Enhances PAM
Multi-Layer Authentication for Maximum Security Splashtop strengthens PAM security with seamless multi-factor authentication, ensuring secure access without disrupting user experience.
Real-Time Session Monitoring & Automated Logging
With real-time tracking and session recording, IT teams gain complete visibility into privileged access. Anomalies are flagged instantly, helping businesses stay audit-ready and in compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and NIST.Granular Access Controls with Role-Based Policies
Unlike traditional PAM tools, Splashtop simplifies role-based access control, ensuring users only have the access they need. This helps prevent privilege creep and insider threats.Seamless Integration with Existing IT Infrastructure Splashtop integrates effortlessly with existing IAM (Identity and Access Management) solutions, reducing complexity while ensuring secure, unified access management across cloud and on-prem environments.
Device Management and Security Posture
Splashtop empowers IT admins with robust device management capabilities, allowing them to efficiently manage and control desktop devices. This includes conducting security posture checks to ensure that devices meet the organization's security standards.
Just-in-Time and On-Demand Access
Splashtop enables dynamic, just-in-time access to applications and data, reducing exposure to unauthorized access or insider risks.Secure Internet Access (SWG, DNS, RBI)
Splashtop combines DNS/URL filtering, cloud controls, SSL inspection, DLP, anti-malware, and Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) to enforce Zero Trust across all internet activity, ensuring comprehensive threat defense.
Try Splashtop for Free
Organizations need a simple, effective way to manage privileged access security without unnecessary complexity. Splashtop Secure Workspace provides a robust yet user-friendly PAM solution that enhances security, ensures compliance, and optimizes IT workflows.
Don’t leave your privileged accounts vulnerable. Get started with a free trial of Splashtop Secure Workspace and take control of your security today.
