Azure PIM Privileged Access Management Explained

Azure PIM is a game-changer for organizations looking to secure their privileged access. It provides a centralized platform for managing and monitoring access to sensitive resources.

With Azure PIM, you can automate the process of assigning and revoking access to privileged accounts, reducing the risk of human error and unauthorized access.

By implementing Azure PIM, organizations can improve their compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards.

Azure PIM is a service that provides time-based and approval-based role activation to mitigate risks associated with excessive, unnecessary, or misused access permissions on resources.

It provides just-in-time privileged access to Microsoft Entra ID and Azure resources, giving you more control over who has access to sensitive information.

Time-bound access to resources can be assigned using start and end dates, ensuring that users only have access to resources when they need it.

Approval is required to activate privileged roles, adding an extra layer of security to prevent unauthorized access.

Multifactor authentication is enforced to activate any role, making it more difficult for attackers to gain access to sensitive information.

You can use justification to understand why users activate privileged roles, providing valuable insights into their actions.

Notifications are sent when privileged roles are activated, keeping you informed of any changes to access permissions.

Access reviews can be conducted to ensure users still need roles, helping to prevent unnecessary access.

Audit history can be downloaded for internal or external audit, providing a clear record of all changes made to access permissions.

Privileged Identity Management prevents the removal of the last active Global Administrator and Privileged Role Administrator role assignments, ensuring that critical roles remain intact.

To use Privileged Identity Management (PIM), you need a Microsoft Entra ID P2 or Microsoft Entra ID Governance license, so make sure you have one of those before proceeding.

You can enable PIM for your tenant through Microsoft Entra, which will automatically set up PIM for you.

To prepare PIM for Microsoft Entra roles, start by configuring Microsoft Entra role settings, giving eligible assignments, and allowing eligible users to activate their Microsoft Entra role just-in-time.

Here's a step-by-step guide to prepare PIM for Microsoft Entra roles:

Once you've completed these tasks, you'll be well on your way to managing Microsoft Entra roles with PIM.

To configure Azure PIM, you need to understand the different configuration options available. The script supports environment variables and command line arguments, as well as certain config parameters stored in a file.

You can store configuration options in a YAML file, which is the default configuration file used by the script. The file is located at $HOME/.az-pim-cli.yaml, but you can override this path with the command line flag --config [PATH].

To define configuration options in a YAML file, you can specify the token to use for authorization when requesting the Azure PIM Groups endpoint. This token is used for listing and activating Azure PIM Groups and Entra Roles.

You can also configure roles in Azure PIM by going to Azure AD Directory Roles—Overview, selecting Settings > Roles, and choosing the role you wish to assign to an administrator.

User management is a crucial aspect of Azure PIM, allowing you to control access to sensitive resources and ensure only authorized users have the necessary permissions.

You can assign PIM roles to users in a few simple steps: assign the PIM role to the user's account in the Office 365 portal, allow the assignment to replicate, and then activate PIM for the user's specific permissions.

By doing so, you can revoke the Exchange Administrator role from the user's account, making them a standard user again, but still eligible to become an Exchange Administrator in the future.

To manage user roles, you can view the PIM role assignments, which provide a secure way to grant access to resources in your organization.

Here are the steps involved in the assignment process:

Delegated approvers receive email notifications when a role request is pending their approval, allowing them to view, approve, or deny the request in PIM.

Once a request has been approved, the member can start using the role, such as managing a resource group if they have been assigned the Contribution role.

Eligible role users can send a request to activate a role and view the request's status, but only if their activation request is approved can they complete their task in Azure AD.

Role Management in Azure PIM is a breeze. You can assign roles to members, activate assignments, and even approve or deny requests. This process keeps everyone informed with email notifications that might include links to relevant tasks.

PIM sends email notifications to keep you and other participants informed. These emails can include links to tasks like activating, approving, or denying requests.

To enable secure administrator access, you'll need to go through a simple process. First, access the Azure portal and go to Privileged Identity Management. Then, open Azure AD Directory Roles—Overview and select the Wizard.

To enable PIM, follow these steps:

Once you've enabled PIM, you can assign roles to users. To do this, assign the PIM role to the user's account in the Office 365 portal, and allow the assignment to replicate for a few minutes.

Here's a step-by-step guide to assigning PIM roles to a user:

Note that once the process is complete, the Exchange Administrator role is revoked from the user's account, making them a standard user again. However, they remain eligible to become an Exchange Administrator again.

Privileged Role Administrator permissions allow for the enablement of approval for specific roles, specifying approver users or groups, and viewing request and approval history for all privileged roles.

This level of control ensures that the right people are approving and managing role elevation requests. With Privileged Role Administrator permissions, you can also view the status of your request to activate a role.

Eligible role user permissions are more straightforward, allowing users to request activation of a role that requires approval, view the status of their request, and complete their task in Microsoft Entra ID if activation was approved.

Here's a breakdown of the different permissions:

These permissions work together to provide a secure and controlled environment for role elevation and approval.

In the world of security and permissions, understanding the terminology is crucial to making informed decisions.

An eligible role assignment requires a user to perform one or more actions to use the role, but it doesn't affect the access given to the user. If a user is made eligible for a role, they can activate it when needed.

Active role assignments, on the other hand, don't require users to perform any actions to use the role. Users assigned as active have the privileges assigned to the role.

The process of performing one or more actions to use a role that a user is eligible for is called activation. This might include performing a multifactor authentication (MFA) check or requesting approval from designated approvers.

A user with an active role assignment is considered assigned, while a user who has activated an eligible role assignment is considered activated. Once activated, the user can use the role for a preconfigured period of time before they need to activate again.

Role assignments can also be categorized by duration, including permanent eligible, permanent active, time-bound eligible, and time-bound active. This means a user can be eligible to activate a role only within specific start and end dates.

Temporary permissions to perform privileged tasks are granted through just-in-time (JIT) access, which prevents malicious or unauthorized users from gaining access after the permissions have expired.

Here's a quick reference guide to some key terms:

The principle of least privilege access is a recommended security practice that minimizes the number of Global Administrators and instead uses specific administrator roles for certain scenarios.

Users with Approver permissions can view pending approvals, approve or reject requests for role elevation, and provide justification for their decision.

Eligible role users can request activation of a role that requires approval, view the status of their request, and complete their task in Microsoft Entra ID if their request is approved.

Privileged Role Administrators have the ability to enable approval for specific roles, specify approver users or groups, and view request and approval history for all privileged roles.

Here are the different user permissions:

These permissions are crucial for ensuring that users only have access to the resources and information they need to perform their tasks, while also preventing unauthorized access to sensitive data.