How PAM Works with Identity Co-Analyst

Capturing Complete Privileged Access Management Requirements in 10 Days

PAM Requirements IGA Integration 12 Weeks → 10 Days

🎯 The Critical Role of ICA in PAM Requirements

Identity Co-Analyst is specifically designed to capture PAM (Privileged Access Management) requirements as part of its comprehensive IAM/IGA/PAM requirements gathering capabilities. Built by veteran identity business analysts with decades of experience, ICA explicitly covers "Privileged Account Management" as one of its core domains.

ICA's Built-In PAM Expertise

ICA includes expert-designed questionnaires specifically for Privileged Access Management that cover all critical PAM domains:

🔍 Account Discovery

  • How to identify privileged accounts
  • Types of privileged accounts
  • Ownership assignment
  • Discovery automation

🔐 Password Vaulting

  • Which credentials need vaulting
  • Password rotation policies
  • Check-out privileges
  • Approval requirements

📹 Session Management

  • Which sessions need recording
  • Monitoring and alerting
  • Session shadowing capabilities
  • Log retention requirements

🚨 Break-Glass Access

  • Emergency access scenarios
  • Who can access break-glass
  • Notification and logging
  • Post-incident reviews

⬆️ Privilege Elevation

  • Just-in-time elevation use cases
  • Approval processes
  • Duration limits
  • Command restrictions

⚙️ Service Accounts

  • Discovery and inventory
  • Ownership assignment
  • Rotation policies
  • Unused account identification

👥 Third-Party Access

  • Vendor access management
  • Additional controls needed
  • Time-limited access
  • Enhanced monitoring

Conversational Intelligence for PAM

ICA uses conversational AI (OpenAI GPT-4o + LangGraph) to engage PAM stakeholders in natural dialogue:

ICA: "Does your organization use privileged accounts for system administration?"
Stakeholder: "Yes, we have database administrators, system admins, and some contractors who need elevated access."
ICA (adapting): "I understand you have multiple types of privileged users. Let me gather specific requirements for each: For Database Administrators: • What database platforms do DBAs need access to? • Should production access differ from dev/test? • Do you need session recording for production database access? • How should emergency database access be handled? For System Administrators: • What types of systems require admin access? • Should admin access be standing or just-in-time? • What approval process should govern admin access grants? For Contractors with Elevated Access: • What additional controls are needed for third-party privileged access? • Should contractor privileged access be more restricted than employees? • How should access be automatically removed at contract end?"

Context-Aware PAM Questions

ICA remembers previous answers and adapts PAM questions based on context:

Earlier in survey: Stakeholder mentions they work in healthcare
Later PAM question: "Given that you're in healthcare with Protected Health Information (PHI), let's discuss privileged access to systems containing PHI: • Do privileged users need access to PHI as part of their administrative duties? • Should privileged access to PHI-containing systems require additional approvals? • What HIPAA-specific logging and monitoring is required for privileged sessions? • How should break-glass access to patient records be governed? • Should privileged session recordings involving PHI have special retention requirements?"

PAM-IGA Integration Requirements ICA Captures

1. Privileged Access Lifecycle Management

ICA Documents the Complete Integration:

IGA ROLE:
  • Define privileged roles (DBA, SysAdmin, Network Admin)
  • Manage approval workflows for privileged access requests
  • Trigger PAM onboarding when privileged access approved
  • Set expiration dates for time-limited privileged access
PAM ROLE:
  • Create privileged accounts in vault upon IGA notification
  • Configure session policies based on IGA role assignment
  • Enable MFA and recording per IGA requirements
  • Report usage back to IGA for certifications
INTEGRATION:
  • IGA sends user identity + privileged role to PAM API
  • PAM creates vault access and privileged session policies
  • PAM confirms provisioning back to IGA
  • Bidirectional sync for access status

2. Privileged Access Certification

ICA Captures Certification Requirements:

IGA CERTIFICATION CAMPAIGN:
  • Scope: All users with privileged access
  • Frequency: Quarterly
  • Reviewers: Account owners + Managers + Security team
  • Risk-based: High-privilege accounts reviewed more frequently
PAM DATA FOR CERTIFICATION:
  • Number of privileged sessions per user (last 90 days)
  • Average session duration
  • Systems accessed via PAM
  • Anomalies or policy violations detected
  • Dormant privileged accounts (no usage in 90 days)
  • Break-glass account usage events

3. Break-Glass Access Governance

ICA-Generated Break-Glass Requirements

IGA GOVERNANCE:
  • Define who is authorized for break-glass access
  • Establish emergency access request process
  • Document justification requirements
  • Set automatic review triggers
PAM CONTROLS:
  • Secure break-glass credentials in vault with enhanced protection
  • Enable full session recording for all break-glass usage
  • Real-time alerting to security team when break-glass activated
  • Command-level logging for audit
  • Automatic credential rotation after each use
WORKFLOW:
  1. Emergency occurs, authorized user requests break-glass access
  2. IGA validates authorization and logs request with justification
  3. IGA notifies PAM to enable break-glass account
  4. PAM checks out credentials, enables full monitoring
  5. User performs emergency tasks (all recorded)
  6. Session ends, credentials checked back in
  7. PAM rotates credentials automatically
  8. IGA triggers immediate post-incident access review
  9. Manager and security review session recordings
  10. Document emergency and actions in audit trail

Benefits of Using ICA for PAM Requirements

⚙️ For PAM Administrators

  • Complete PAM requirements in 10 days vs. 12+ weeks
  • No critical PAM scenarios missed
  • Clear PAM-IGA integration specs
  • Platform-agnostic (works with any PAM solution)
  • Professional documentation ready for implementation

🛡️ For Security Stakeholders

  • Describe PAM needs in business terms
  • Break-glass scenarios thoroughly documented
  • Compliance requirements automatically mapped
  • Third-party access governance clearly defined

💻 For IT Administrators

  • Don't need to be PAM experts
  • Session recording policies clearly specified
  • Privilege elevation rules documented
  • Service account requirements captured

✅ For Compliance Officers

  • Audit requirements fully documented
  • Regulatory mapping (SOX, HIPAA, PCI)
  • Certification frequency defined by risk
  • Retention requirements specified

🏗️ For IAM/IGA Architects

  • PAM-IGA integration points documented
  • Bidirectional data flows specified
  • API requirements identified
  • End-to-end lifecycle management

Real-World Example: Healthcare PAM Requirements

ICA: "Let's discuss privileged access in your healthcare environment. Do clinical IT staff need administrative access to systems containing Protected Health Information?"
Healthcare IT Manager: "Yes, our DBAs manage the electronic health record database, and system administrators maintain the application servers. We also have network teams who need access to infrastructure."
ICA: "I understand. Healthcare organizations have unique requirements for privileged access due to HIPAA. Let me gather the specific details: For Database Administrators accessing EHR systems: • Should DBA access to production PHI databases require additional approvals? • Do you need to record all DBA sessions that could access patient data? • Should there be restrictions on when DBAs can access production? • What notification is needed when DBAs access PHI-containing tables? For Emergency/Break-Glass Access: • Do physicians or clinical staff ever need emergency access to the EHR? • What constitutes a valid clinical emergency requiring break-glass access? • Should break-glass access be location-restricted (e.g., hospital network only)? • What post-access review process is needed to comply with HIPAA? For Third-Party Vendors: • Do EHR vendors require privileged access for maintenance and support? • Should vendor access be more restricted than employee access? • What additional HIPAA Business Associate controls are needed?"

ICA-Generated Healthcare PAM Requirements

1. DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS TO PHI SYSTEMS

ACCESS CONTEXT:

  • User Context: Database Administrator role
  • Data Context: EHR database containing PHI
  • Compliance Context: HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules apply
  • Risk Level: Critical (PHI access)

REQUIREMENTS:

  • Enhanced approval: Manager + Privacy Officer approval required
  • Time restrictions: Business hours only (7 AM - 7 PM) Monday-Friday
  • Location restrictions: Corporate network or approved VPN only
  • 100% session recording for all production database access
  • Real-time alerting when DBA queries PHI-containing tables
  • 7-year retention for HIPAA compliance
2. BREAK-GLASS ACCESS FOR CLINICAL EMERGENCIES

SCENARIO: Physician needs immediate EHR access when normal authentication fails during patient emergency

AUTHORIZED USERS:

  • On-duty physicians (emergency department only)
  • On-call specialists
  • ICU attending physicians

CONTROLS:

  • Break-glass accounts secured in vault with enhanced controls
  • Location-restricted: Hospital network only
  • MFA required even for break-glass (biometric or smart card)
  • Real-time notification to Privacy Officer and Security
  • Full session recording
  • Mandatory post-incident review within 4 hours
  • Physician must document clinical justification
3. THIRD-PARTY VENDOR PRIVILEGED ACCESS

VENDOR: EHR application vendor requiring privileged access for system maintenance

GOVERNANCE:

  • Time-limited: Valid only during active support contract
  • Pre-approved maintenance windows only
  • 48-hour advance notice required
  • Business Associate Agreement (BAA) verification required
  • Privacy Officer approval for each access request

TECHNICAL CONTROLS:

  • Separate vendor-specific privileged accounts
  • MFA mandatory for all vendor access
  • Command filtering: Restrict data export, PHI queries
  • 100% session recording
  • Real-time monitoring by security team
  • Automatic revocation at contract expiration

ICA's Post-Survey PAM Analysis

After PAM stakeholders complete surveys, ICA provides AI-powered insights:

📊 Sample ICA Analysis Output

✓ COMPREHENSIVE PAM SCOPE IDENTIFIED
  • 8 stakeholders completed PAM requirements survey
  • Privileged account types identified: Admin, service, shared, break-glass
  • 15 systems requiring privileged access management
  • 3 compliance frameworks relevant: SOX, HIPAA, PCI-DSS
✓ STRONG PAM-IGA INTEGRATION REQUIREMENTS
  • Clear need for lifecycle integration (provisioning, de-provisioning)
  • Quarterly certification campaigns for privileged access
  • Risk-based certification frequency defined
  • SoD policies identified for privileged roles
⚠️ POTENTIAL GAPS IDENTIFIED

SERVICE ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

Multiple stakeholders mentioned service accounts but ownership unclear

RECOMMENDATION: Conduct service account discovery before PAM implementation

THIRD-PARTY VENDOR CONSISTENCY

IT stakeholder mentioned 90-day limit, Security mentioned 30-day limit

RECOMMENDATION: Clarify vendor privileged access policy standard

SESSION RECORDING STORAGE

7-year retention requirement identified but no discussion of storage capacity

RECOMMENDATION: Engage infrastructure team to validate storage requirements

The Transformation: Before & After

❌ Traditional PAM Requirements

  • 12+ weeks of meetings, emails, and spreadsheets
  • Security teams struggle to articulate PAM needs
  • Break-glass scenarios incomplete or forgotten
  • Service account requirements missed
  • PAM-IGA integration points unclear
  • Compliance mapping incomplete
  • Documentation inconsistent and hard to maintain

✅ With Identity Co-Analyst

  • Under 10 days to capture complete PAM requirements
  • Conversational interface - describe needs naturally
  • Expert questionnaires ensure comprehensive coverage
  • Conditional logic explores all PAM scenarios
  • AI translates business needs to technical specs
  • PAM-IGA integration automatically documented
  • Compliance mapping (SOX, HIPAA, PCI) included
  • Professional documentation ready for implementation
  • Platform-agnostic - works with any PAM solution

🎯 The Bottom Line

Identity Co-Analyst doesn't just capture IGA requirements—it captures the complete privileged access management picture, including how PAM and IGA work together to provide governance over an organization's most sensitive and high-risk access.

The result is a comprehensive, implementable PAM requirements specification in a fraction of the traditional time—from 12+ weeks down to under 10 days, with higher quality, better stakeholder engagement, and complete documentation ready for any PAM platform.