What is Just-in-Time Access (JIT)?

JIT access implements the principle of least privilege (PoLP) by granting users only limited access to complete a specific task. As access is time-sensitive, this model could be applied across all accounts so that no user would have permanent privileges. This approach differs from “always-on” or standing privileges, where users continuously have unrestricted access to resources, whether they need them or not.

Admin rights are a jackpot for hackers as they offer elevated privileges to perform cyber-attacks. They’ll employ various techniques, such as social engineering or phishing, to bypass security measures and gain access to these privileges. That’s why Zero Trust policies are increasingly adopted, with JIT access being one of the techniques in this framework.

Key takeaways

• Just-in-time access is a privileged access management component that grants temporary, need-based access rights to users, applications, or systems.
• It enhances security posture, streamlines access workflow, supports compliance, protects credentials, and eases privileged account management.
• JIT access reduces cybersecurity risks by minimizing the attack surface and improving transparency in user privilege management.
• Implementing JIT access effectively involves establishing access control policies, focusing on high-privilege accounts, securing credentials in vaults, and establishing monitoring systems.

How does just-in-time access work?

JIT access requires an organization to transition into a zero-standing privileges approach. This requires clearly defining the network perimeter and documenting user privilege levels and the contexts in which they should be used. Usually, for a company, this means abandoning the previously used model for permissions management and adopting JIT access.

A typical JIT workflow involves users requesting access to some work resource, servers, networks, or a privilege. The request is submitted for approval: when it’s automated, the system grants or denies it based on security policies. Otherwise, it’s confirmed manually by an administrator.

After approval, a user is provided with a resource or access for a fixed amount of time to complete a task. After the task is completed, the access rights are revoked, and the user must go through the approval process anew the next time.

As no sensitive credentials are passed around, they can’t be leaked, which shrinks the attack surface. Even in cases when bad actors could compromise system passwords, time-sensitive mechanisms make them outdated.

Importance of just-in-time access for your business

As data breaches are getting increasingly expensive and frequent, businesses are looking into ways to better protect against cyber risks. Exposing sensitive customer data is not the publicity any company would want, as it can cause irreparable damage to the brand. Often, it’s also followed by various legal fees as well as regulatory fines.

Ensuring the security of a modern enterprise is also getting harder due to the outsourced nature of current infrastructure models. Shadow IT assets, cloud, and legacy solutions work in tandem, which gives hackers a window of opportunity. User privilege management, therefore, is a critical area that needs increased attention and security.

Just-in-time access provisioning shrinks the attack surface, reducing the risks that businesses need to tackle. In addition, automated access provisioning and a more airtight credentials-handling model move organizations closer to a Zero Trust design. It also increases the organization’s transparency, as each user access request is logged.

Types of just-in-time access

Although it sounds homogeneous, just-in-time access can be implemented differently. Here’s a list of the most prominent JIT access types.

1. Justification-based access control

Such access control, also known as “broker and remove access”, uses one or several privileged accounts, which store their credentials in a secure vault. Users must justify requesting access to specific systems for a specific time. Once the administrator approves the requests, the credentials are accessible.

2. Ephemeral accounts

In this setup, no standing privileged access accounts exist. Instead, temporary privileged accounts are created on a need basis and disabled after use. A user is then given this temporary account to complete a specific task.

The access must be requested for the time required to complete a task that requires elevated permissions. This works best if a low-level account or a third-party user needs access to a resource. Privileged guest accounts left unsupervised constitute a serious cybersecurity risk. Ephemeral accounts solve this problem with an access expiration date.

3. Temporary elevation

Also known as privilege elevation, it gives more permissions to a user account for a limited time when requested. When the time is up, the additionally granted privileges are revoked, and the user returns to the standard permissions. The request is always formed, indicating how long a task is expected to take.

Temporary, time-bound access control is granted to users only when needed—reducing risk and exposure. After the task is completed or the time expires, access is automatically revoked.

Benefits of just-in-time access

Eliminating always-on privileged access in favor of JIT ensures better security. The data is accessible only when there’s a valid reason to do it. Here are the principal benefits brought by just-in-time access control:

1. Enhances the organization’s security posture

The dynamic privilege model improves an organization’s security posture and reduces various risks. This leaves fewer loopholes for unauthorized access.

A smaller attack surface is easier to protect, so minimizing it with JIT helps enforce stricter access controls. Once the task is done, access is also removed.

2. Streamlines access workflow

Handling privileged access requests can be automated, freeing up network administrators’ time. JIT has been shown to improve productivity levels for the operations team and the end-users.

Users are granted necessary access faster, while administrators don’t need to wait for review cycles. Because privileged access requests can be automatically approved—regardless of the user's location—via the Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution, employee productivity remains uninterrupted.

3. Supports compliance

JIT access implementation may have a positive effect on the business pursuit of compliance. As JIT is one technique to approach least-privilege access, this helps meet compliance requirements and stay in line with the audit reports.

As JIT implementation removes all access with standing privileges and replaces it with controlled privileged sessions, it provides more transparency regarding data security. This also lets organizations receive detailed audit logs with granular views of all network activities.

4. Introduces credential protection

The JIT system provides a safety net regarding credential difficulty and protection. Once a user is granted access, the system generates credentials in a secret vault. The user doesn’t know what the credentials are but can use them.

Used passwords can be rotated, and new accounts can be created or disabled. When attackers target passwords to steal, the system can invalidate the account and its privileges.

5. Eases privileged accounts management

Effectively implemented JIT access means every session has a beginning, end, and set duration. Additionally, there are no accounts with standing privileges, which streamlines password management, eliminating chores like password reset and recovery. JIT access can also be seamlessly integrated with the company’s identity and access management system to streamline and automate privileged access control.

Many credential management functions can be automated, including credential rotation, deletion, etc. An administrator doesn’t have to be involved in each step, making the service operational and effective without human input.

Drawbacks to JIT access

While as-needed access is a great solution that helps enterprises keep a tight grip on the user’s privileges, JIT isn’t without its flaws. Missteps can happen, and this approach isn’t foolproof, either.

Misconfiguration risks

JIT systems can be prone to misconfiguration risks like any other cybersecurity tool. Indicating long durations can invalidate the credential rotation policy, rendering the whole system useless. In the same way, this can create pockets of stagnant credentials that hackers could use to infiltrate the organization without anyone noticing. Various automation for provisioning and de-provisioning needs to be set up to thwart those risks.

Dependency on the providers

If an organization uses a third-party JIT system, there’s always a risk of being cornered into becoming heavily dependent on the service provider. This can affect your organization in various ways that would be hard to expect. For instance, if a vulnerability is found in the system, and the provider doesn’t inform its clients about it, the organization could be protected under a false impression of security. The potential solution could be to conduct thorough background research before sticking with any particular solution.

Requires some internal reorganization

As user access is related to most work functions, this is one of the most difficult improvements to implement. Various used standing access accounts need to be removed, and just-in-time privileged access management systems should be rolled out. Simultaneously, this may strain network administrators, take a while to prepare infrastructure and require some effort before the employees start using it. The whole journey could be a big challenge.

How to implement just-in-time access?

There are some good practices to remember when planning to transition to just-in-time access.

1. Define access requirements

Begin by creating a comprehensive inventory of roles within your organization. Determine which roles require access to specific resources and define the access levels needed based on the principle of least privilege (PoLP). These access levels can include:

• Read-only access: Allows users to view or read data without the ability to modify it; suitable for roles that require monitoring or auditing functions
• Write access: Grants the ability to modify, add, or delete data that is necessary for operational roles involved in data entry, updates, or development tasks
• Administrative access: Typically restricted to IT support roles, administrative access provides full control over systems and applications, including the ability to change configurations, manage user accounts, and install software

2. Establish control policies

JIT solutions merge well with supplementary solutions like attribute-based access control (ABAC) or role-based access control (RBAC) policies. This helps to outline what tasks are allowed for what types of users.

User accounts can be differentiated according to the access level needed to perform their job roles. Each must be assigned a corresponding control policy ensuring the least privileged access needed. As JIT becomes operational, each additional access request will be monitored, increasing transparency.

3. Start with the most elevated accounts

Prioritization is often a good habit when reorganizing IT infrastructure. However, when restructuring your organization’s most sensitive credentials, starting from accounts with the most privileges is paramount.

Usually, this means starting with service and administrator accounts and going through the remaining ones. Taking care of the highest-risk accounts patches up the most dangerous gaps in your cybersecurity defense.

4. Seal credentials in a secure vault

A centralized vault with the highest security clearance access level credentials helps manage the most important organization’s assets. The JIT system rotates the passwords, phasing out the ones that have been used, making the system much more secure.

The users don’t know their passwords, and neither do hackers. This setup makes auditing privileged access activities and discovering vulnerabilities in the system much easier.

5. Establish a monitoring system

A just-in-time privileged access management system can record all privileged activities within the vault. This helps build a reliable and consistent logging system that can later be used for audits and operations improvements.

The same mechanism can be used to develop an alerts-based system when abnormal user behavior is detected. In real-time, privileged activity logs and alerts can be sent to administrators for immediate response.

By following these steps, organizations can ensure that access to critical resources is granted only when needed, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and potential security breaches.

Summary

Just-in-time access can transform an organization’s privileged account management. Heavily relying on Zero Trust fundamentals, JIT treats privileged accounts with the caution that this area deserves. Higher privilege access is granted only after formal requests and lasts as long as it has to, not a minute longer.

This approach is gaining more popularity among businesses that want to secure their organizations from risks like data breaches. As cyber risks are increasing, so does the probability of cyber attacks, and securing the credentials should be the number one priority, which can become much easier by transitioning to the JIT framework.