What are the best practices for identifying and inventorying all privileged accounts across systems?

In an increasingly connected and digital world, privileged accounts are both the crown jewels of enterprise systems and the biggest risk factor when left unmanaged. These accounts, which provide elevated access to critical systems and sensitive data, are often the primary target of cybercriminals. A single compromised privileged account can lead to devastating breaches, data exfiltration, and operational disruption.

Whether you’re a CISO at a multinational corporation or an IT administrator at a growing startup, one question remains vital:
Do you know where all your privileged accounts are—and who controls them?

In this post, we’ll explore:

  • What privileged accounts are and why they matter
  • The risks of poor privileged access management (PAM)
  • Best practices for discovering, inventorying, and securing privileged accounts
  • Tools and automation strategies
  • Real-world examples and how the public can benefit from PAM hygiene

🔐 What Is a Privileged Account?

A privileged account is any account that has elevated access rights beyond those of a standard user. This includes:

  • Domain administrators
  • System/root accounts
  • Database administrators (DBAs)
  • Cloud infrastructure managers
  • DevOps toolchain accounts
  • Service accounts and application credentials
  • Third-party vendor access accounts

These accounts have the ability to:

  • Install or modify software
  • Change security settings
  • Access sensitive files and databases
  • Manage backups
  • Bypass access controls

In simple terms: Privileged accounts are the digital equivalent of master keys. If attackers get them, they can go anywhere.

⚠️ The Risks of Not Knowing Your Privileged Accounts

Many organizations operate without a complete inventory of their privileged accounts—this is dangerous. Here’s why:

1. Attackers Target the Unknown

Hackers often use phishing, malware, or insider threats to escalate privileges. If an organization doesn’t even know an account exists, they can’t monitor or defend it.

2. Shadow IT and Orphaned Accounts

Employees often create accounts without IT’s knowledge (Shadow IT), or leave without decommissioning access (orphaned accounts), leading to forgotten, unmonitored, and unprotected entry points.

3. Regulatory Non-Compliance

Standards like ISO 27001, NIST, HIPAA, GDPR, and India’s DPDP Act require visibility into user access and activity. Without a PAM system, compliance becomes a guessing game.

4. Insider Threats

Even trusted users can misuse access—intentionally or accidentally. You can’t hold someone accountable if you don’t know what they have access to.

🧠 Best Practices to Identify and Inventory Privileged Accounts

✅ 1. Define What “Privileged” Means in Your Context

Not all admin accounts are labeled as such. Begin by defining:

  • Who has access to critical systems (servers, databases, cloud)
  • What actions are considered privileged (read-only vs. configuration changes)
  • Which service or machine accounts interact with sensitive data

Tip: Include both human and non-human identities (e.g., scripts, bots, containers).

✅ 2. Conduct a Full Credential Discovery Scan

Use automated tools to scan across your IT environment—on-prem, cloud, SaaS, endpoints—to identify:

  • Local and domain admin accounts
  • Root accounts in Unix/Linux
  • Hardcoded credentials in scripts
  • Keys and secrets stored in config files
  • Service and application credentials

Recommended Tools:

  • CyberArk Discovery & Audit
  • BeyondTrust Discovery Scanner
  • Microsoft Local Admin Password Solution (LAPS)
  • AWS IAM Access Analyzer

Example: A fintech company used CyberArk to uncover 80+ undocumented privileged accounts running on production servers—including an orphaned service account with root privileges created during a forgotten migration.

✅ 3. Inventory and Categorize Privileged Accounts

Once discovered, build a centralized inventory that includes:

  • Account name and type
  • Associated system or service
  • Owner or department
  • Last login timestamp
  • Level of access
  • Authentication method used (password, key, MFA)

Use metadata tagging (e.g., “High Risk,” “Vendor Access,” “Expired”) to prioritize actions.

Tool Tip: Use a Privileged Access Management (PAM) platform like Thycotic, One Identity, or HashiCorp Vault to automate and maintain the inventory.

✅ 4. Eliminate Orphaned and Unused Privileged Accounts

Orphaned accounts—left behind by former employees or deprecated systems—are prime targets for attackers.

Steps to mitigate:

  • Deactivate accounts with no activity in the past 60-90 days
  • Cross-check accounts with HR and IT onboarding/offboarding logs
  • Reassign ownership or delete obsolete identities

Example: A healthcare organization discovered an orphaned DBA account linked to a deceased contractor. It was still active and had full access to patient records—a compliance nightmare waiting to happen.

✅ 5. Rotate and Vault Privileged Credentials

Never leave privileged passwords static. Implement:

  • Automated password rotation every 24–72 hours
  • Central vaulting of all privileged credentials
  • Elimination of hardcoded passwords in scripts/code

This reduces the window of opportunity for misuse—even if credentials are leaked.

Example: DevOps teams can store secrets in HashiCorp Vault, allowing apps to retrieve passwords dynamically without exposing them in source code.

✅ 6. Enforce Just-in-Time (JIT) Privilege Elevation

JIT ensures that privileged access is temporary, time-bound, and approved. Users can elevate privileges only when needed—and for as long as needed.

Benefits:

  • Minimizes attack surface
  • Prevents always-on admin access
  • Enhances auditability

Tool Tip: Use PAM solutions or Windows Just Enough Administration (JEA) to implement this model.

✅ 7. Enable MFA and Strong Authentication Everywhere

Privileged accounts should always use:

  • Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
  • Biometric or token-based logins
  • Conditional access policies based on location/device

Never rely on password-only authentication for admin or root accounts.

✅ 8. Audit, Monitor, and Alert on Privileged Account Activity

Every action taken by a privileged user should be logged, monitored, and alertable.

Include:

  • Session recordings
  • Real-time alerts on anomalous behavior
  • Privilege escalation attempts
  • API access by service accounts

Use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools like Splunk, QRadar, or Microsoft Sentinel for centralized logging.

✅ 9. Educate and Review Regularly

Train users on:

  • The importance of PAM
  • Proper access request procedures
  • Responsible usage and reporting of anomalies

Schedule quarterly reviews of all privileged accounts and conduct red team simulations to test defenses.

🧍 How the Public Can Apply These Practices

Even individual users or small businesses can adopt lightweight PAM practices:

  • Regularly review admin accounts on laptops and home networks
  • Avoid using the default “Administrator” account
  • Use password managers like Bitwarden or 1Password to vault credentials
  • Enable 2FA on all services
  • Delete old cloud accounts (AWS, GCP, Azure) you no longer use
  • Monitor unusual device access to Google/Microsoft accounts

🧠 Final Thoughts

Privileged accounts are essential for maintaining IT infrastructure, but when left unmanaged, they’re one of the greatest threats to an organization’s cybersecurity posture.

Identifying and inventorying privileged accounts isn’t a one-time project—it’s a continuous discipline that forms the foundation for secure access management.

By following best practices—discovering accounts, cataloging them, removing unused access, and enforcing strong controls—organizations can:

  • Mitigate insider and external threats
  • Reduce their compliance risk
  • Build a culture of security-first access

Remember: You can’t protect what you can’t see. Start building visibility into privileged access today, before attackers find it for you.

📚 Further Resources

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