Elevating SMB Security: How Privileged Identity Management (PIM) Provides Maximum Protection

Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) often operate with limited IT resources, making them attractive targets for cyberattacks. One of the most critical areas to secure is privileged access – the permissions granted to users or accounts that allow them to perform administrative functions or access sensitive data. Compromise of these accounts can lead to devastating data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage.

Microsoft Entra ID Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is a service designed to mitigate these risks by managing, controlling, and monitoring access to important resources. For SMBs leveraging Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory), PIM offers a powerful yet manageable solution to significantly enhance their security posture without requiring extensive infrastructure or specialized staff.

How PIM Improves Security for SMB Customers

PIM addresses key security challenges faced by SMBs by implementing the principle of “just-in-time” and “just-enough” access. Instead of granting standing administrative privileges to users indefinitely, PIM allows organizations to:

• Minimize the attack surface: By reducing the number of accounts with permanent, highly privileged access, the potential entry points for attackers are significantly reduced.
• Lessen the impact of a breach: If a regular user account is compromised, the damage is limited because that account doesn’t hold excessive permissions. Privileged access is only granted when explicitly needed and for a limited time.
• Gain visibility into privileged activity: PIM provides detailed logging and auditing of privileged role activations and actions, making it easier to detect suspicious activity and investigate security incidents.
• Enforce accountability: With PIM, you can track who activated a privileged role, when they activated it, and for what purpose (if justification is required), creating a clear audit trail.
• Support compliance efforts: Many regulatory requirements mandate strict control and monitoring of privileged access. PIM helps SMBs meet these obligations.
• Reduce human error: By requiring activation and justification for privileged tasks, PIM encourages a more deliberate approach to administrative actions, reducing the likelihood of accidental misconfigurations or data deletion.

Essentially, PIM transforms standing access into eligible access, requiring users to activate their elevated permissions only when necessary, for a defined period.

PIM is part of the features of Entra ID P2, which means it is not natively available with Microsoft 365 Business Premium but is available as part of the E5 Security Add-on to Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

Configuring PIM for Maximum Protection: A Step-by-Step Guide for SMBs

Configuring PIM effectively is crucial to maximizing its security benefits. Here’s a step-by-step guide tailored for SMBs:

Phase 1: Initial Setup and Role Discovery

1. Identify and Inventory Privileged Roles:

   • Navigate to the Microsoft Entra admin center (entra.microsoft.com).
   • Go to Identity governance > Privileged Identity Management.
   • Select Microsoft Entra roles or Azure resources (depending on the resources you want to protect).
   • Review the list of available roles and identify which users are currently assigned to highly privileged roles (e.g., Global Administrator, Security Administrator, User Administrator). This step is critical to understand your current privilege landscape.

2. Assign Eligible Roles:

   • For users who require privileged access for their duties, change their assignment type from “Active” (permanent) to “Eligible”.
   • Select the role you want to configure and go to Assignments.
   • Add assignments for users, selecting “Eligible” as the assignment type.
   • Set an expiration date for the eligible assignment. While eligible assignments can be permanent, setting an expiration (e.g., 1 year) and requiring periodic review is a best practice for maximum security.

Phase 2: Configuring Role Settings for Enhanced Security

For each privileged role you’ve identified, configure the following settings to enforce strong controls during activation:

1. Access Role Settings:

   • In the PIM portal, select the relevant resource type (Microsoft Entra roles or Azure resources).
   • Select Roles, then choose the specific role you want to configure.
   • Select Settings > Edit.

2. Activation Maximum Duration:

   • Set the Activation maximum duration to the shortest possible time required to complete typical administrative tasks. For most SMBs, 1-4 hours is often sufficient. Avoid setting this to the maximum 24 hours unless absolutely necessary.

3. On activation, require multifactor authentication (MFA):

   • Enable this setting for all privileged roles. This is one of the most effective controls to prevent unauthorized activation even if a user’s password is compromised. Ensure all eligible users are enrolled in Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication.

4. On activation, require justification:

   • Enable this setting. Requiring users to provide a business justification for activating a privileged role creates an audit trail and encourages users to think critically before elevating their permissions.

5. Require approval to activate:

   • For highly sensitive roles (e.g., Global Administrator, Security Administrator), enable this setting.
   • Specify approvers (ideally, a small group of trusted administrators) who must approve activation requests before the user gains privileged access. This adds an extra layer of control and prevents a single compromised account from immediately gaining high-level access. Ensure your approvers understand their responsibility and the importance of timely responses.

6. Notification Settings:

   • Configure notifications to alert administrators when privileged roles are activated. This provides near real-time awareness of privileged activity.

Phase 3: Implementing Access Reviews

Regularly reviewing who has eligible and active assignments is crucial to maintain a strong security posture.

1. Create Access Reviews:

   • In the PIM portal, select the relevant resource type.
   • Under Manage, select Access reviews.
   • Click New to create a new access review.

2. Configure Access Review Settings:

   • Name and Description: Give the review a clear name and description (e.g., “Quarterly Global Administrator Role Review”).
   • Start and End Dates: Define the duration of the review.
   • Frequency: Set the review to recur regularly (e.g., quarterly or semi-annually) to ensure ongoing oversight.
   • Roles to Review: Select the privileged roles you want to include in the review.
   • Reviewers: Assign appropriate reviewers. For SMBs, this might be a trusted IT administrator or a business owner who understands the need for specific roles. You can also configure users to review their own access, but this should be used with caution and ideally combined with another layer of review for critical roles.
   • Upon completion settings: Configure what happens after the review. You can choose to automatically remove access for users who were denied or not reviewed.

Phase 4: Ongoing Monitoring and Maintenance

1. Monitor Alerts and Notifications: Regularly review the PIM alerts and notifications in the Microsoft Entra admin center and via email.
2. Audit Logs: Periodically review the PIM audit logs to understand who activated which roles and when.
3. Refine Settings: As your business evolves, periodically review and refine your PIM role settings and access review configurations to ensure they remain appropriate for your security needs.

By implementing Microsoft Entra ID Privileged Identity Management and following these configuration steps, SMBs can significantly enhance their security by moving away from standing administrative privileges and adopting a just-in-time approach. This proactive measure helps protect against the misuse of elevated access, reduces the impact of potential security incidents, and strengthens the overall security posture in an increasingly complex threat landscape.