What is PAM in cybersecurity?

PAM stands for Privileged Access Management: securing, controlling, and auditing access to privileged accounts and sensitive systems.

Why is PAM important?

Privileged accounts are high-value targets, and compromising one can give an attacker broad control. Vaulting, session control, and least privilege reduce that risk.

What is the difference between PAM and IAM?

IAM manages all identities and access, while PAM is the specialized subset focused on privileged, high-risk accounts.

What Is Privileged Access Management (PAM)?

By SWI Community Team · Updated 2026-06-12 · 6 min

Privileged Access Management (PAM) secures the most powerful accounts in an organization: administrators, root, service accounts, and anything that can change systems or read sensitive data. These accounts are the prize attackers want most, so they get dedicated controls.

What PAM does

Vaulting stores and rotates privileged credentials so humans never know the raw password.
Session management brokers, monitors, and records privileged sessions.
Just-in-time (JIT) access grants elevated rights only for as long as they are needed, moving toward zero standing privileges.
Discovery finds unmanaged privileged accounts before attackers do.

Why it is separate from IAM

Standard IAM governs everyday access. PAM adds a hardened layer for high-blast-radius accounts, with stronger isolation, recording, and approval workflows. It overlaps with secrets management for application credentials and increasingly with non-human identity.

Where to start

Browse PAM vendors, compare leaders like CyberArk vs Delinea, or read how to choose a PAM solution.

Frequently asked questions

What is PAM in cybersecurity?: PAM stands for Privileged Access Management: securing, controlling, and auditing access to privileged accounts and sensitive systems.
Why is PAM important?: Privileged accounts are high-value targets, and compromising one can give an attacker broad control. Vaulting, session control, and least privilege reduce that risk.
What is the difference between PAM and IAM?: IAM manages all identities and access, while PAM is the specialized subset focused on privileged, high-risk accounts.