Steven Lafortune
Here we are at the start of a fresh new year, which means new possibilities, new opportunities, new experiences, and of course: New Year’s resolutions!
Indeed, people around the world are pledging to do all kinds of positive things on a personal level, such as drink more water, get more sleep, read more books, and finally put the treadmill that they bought four years ago to good use (hey, better late than never!).
At the same time, people are making commitments related to their work and career. And for many IT pros, this means turning their attention to one of today’s most important cybersecurity strategies, technologies, and frameworks: privileged access management (PAM).
That brings us to the January poll question, which asks: What are your PAM resolutions in 2026?
Here are some ideas to spark your thinking:
- Inventory privileged identities end-to-end such as admins, service accounts, break-glass accounts, and API keys, and assign clear owners for each one.
- Remove standing admin rights by default and move to just-in-time (JIT) elevation with approvals for high-risk actions.
- Centralize and lock down secrets (e.g., passwords, SSH keys, certificates) in a secure vault, with rotation schedules and no shared admin credentials.
- Enforce strong multifactor authentication (MFA) everywhere privileged access exists, including remote access paths, admin consoles, cloud dashboards, and password vault access.
- Segment and limit blast radius by scoping privileged access to the minimum systems, networks, and time windows needed, and implementing controls (such as role-based access control, scoped roles, separate admin workstations).
- Record and audit privileged sessions (RDP/SSH/SQL/web admin), and regularly review logs.
- Operationalize lifecycle hygiene through automated offboarding, time-bounded access for vendors, periodic access reviews, and alerts for dormant and abnormal privileged activity.
Again, these are just some examples. Your resolutions could cover relatively small, yet vital changes and additions, to large-scale, multifaceted projects.
And even if you don’t yet have formal approval and budget to turn all your PAM-related resolutions into reality, go ahead and mention them anyway. Your ambitions could inspire and encourage others in the community. Plus, research has shown that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them vs. those who don’t.
You could win
By participating in the poll you’ll be automatically entered to win one of two $25 Amazon gift cards (please see contest rules here). We will announce the lucky winners when we look at the resolutions in early February.
Thank you in advance for participating, and we look forward to seeing what you hope to achieve this year when it comes to PAM!
