Stealthbits SbPAM 3.0: A modernized and simplified approach to PAM

Stealthbits announced the release of Stealthbits Privileged Activity Manager (SbPAM) 3.0, their third-generation solution designed with a modernized and simplified approach to Privileged Access Management (PAM).

PAM software has been around for nearly 20 years. Many of today’s popular solutions have been built on decade old platforms, layering new functionality in increasingly complex ways. Organizations often realize the importance of properly managing and securing privilege access, but are locked into antiquated solutions with complex and expensive methods.

SbPAM 3.0 continues Stealthbits’ commitment to renovate and simplify PAM. The company approaches PAM from the perspective of the abundance of privileged activities that need to be performed, not a group of privileged admins needing accounts.

SbPAM 3.0, available for download beginning October 6, 2020, simplifies PAM and offers a new take on traditional capabilities like Credential Management, Service Account Management and Session Monitoring:

• Credential management – Whether you have 10 or 100,000 systems, built-in accounts can be immediately and easily brought under management via a single click of a button. Through policy inheritance at the platform level, organizations no longer need to define and set accounts on a per-device basis.
• Real-time service account management – To save time, SbPAM produces a list of dependent services and scheduled tasks for each Service Account, along with real-time updates on change status. If errors occur, users are immediately alerted and given the option to pause and roll-back any changes. No more waiting for service failures to understand the status.
• Enhanced live session monitoring – In addition to providing live session monitoring capabilities, SbPAM 3.0 also offers the ability to selectively lock and terminate sessions at three different levels, including current session, future sessions on the same resource, or globally, to prevent users from performing any unsanctioned activity.

“The PAM market is ripe for innovation and Stealthbits is continuing to redefine what customers should expect from their Privileged Access Management solution,” said Stealthbits CEO Jim Barkdoll.

“Securing privileged access is crucial for security teams in this age of continual cyber-attacks, especially now that so many employees work from home. Stealthbits’ third-generation PAM delivers on our commitment to fill gaps in current PAM technologies, like lowering the cost of ownership, simplifying usability, and providing greater flexibility and choice.”

Reduce standing privileges and attack surface

Traditional PAM vendors add to the standing privilege problem, creating multiple privileged accounts per single administrator. Stealthbits focuses on the privileged activity, not the account.

Using approaches like ephemeral accounts and activity tokens, SbPAM creates and provisions temporary access to perform a task, then removes and destroys it when task is completed. Access and the account itself ONLY exist while the task is being performed.

Password vault options

Nearly all PAM vendors require use of THEIR vault, making switching difficult and expensive. Stealthbits provides vault options: Bring Your Own Vault™ (we’ll integrate with any 3rd party), use ours, or perform vault-less operations… your choice.

Built-in access certification / attestation

All organizations need to check/certify access rights and privileged access is most critical. No one likes big spreadsheets that get passed around with endless rows of system access for review. Stealthbits makes approving your most critical access convenient and less time consuming by enabling electronic workflow and approval directly from the console.

Reduced Total Cost of Ownership – Most PAM vendors charge for high availability, additional databases, proxies, and more including multiple add-on modules. The result is a solution that costs significantly more than anticipated and switching costs prohibit a change.

Stealthbits includes everything… no expansion costs for databases, appliances, networking, and add-on modules.

“We looked at several PAM products, many having been around for a number of years, but they often fall very short when it comes to admins and the accounts they use to get access to systems,” admits Craig Larsen, IS Administrator, Eastern Carver County Schools.

“What was so intriguing about SbPAM is that we can truly manage the access to our systems to the level of least privilege. The concept of temporary elevation, or just-in-time access, make so much sense as the admin is granted access on the fly and access is removed when no longer needed.”