What is the difference between PAM and IAM?

IAM manages identities and access for all users across all applications, typically through authentication, SSO and role assignment. PAM is a specialized layer on top of IAM that focuses on high-risk administrative and machine accounts, adding vaulting, session recording and tighter approval controls. Most organizations need both: IAM for breadth, PAM for depth on critical systems.

Which accounts count as privileged?

Any account that can alter system configuration, access sensitive data broadly or manage other accounts is privileged. Common examples include domain and local administrators, root on Linux, database admin accounts, hypervisor and cloud management roles, network device logins and service accounts used by applications. Non-IT accounts, such as a finance system superuser, can also qualify.

Is PAM required for compliance?

Few regulations name PAM explicitly, but most demand the controls PAM delivers: restricted administrative access, individual accountability, credential rotation and audit trails of privileged activity. Auditors for PCI DSS, ISO 27001, SOX and similar frameworks routinely ask how privileged accounts are protected, so a PAM tool is the practical way to produce that evidence.

Privileged Access Management (PAM)

What is Privileged Access Management?

Privileged access management secures, controls and monitors accounts with elevated permissions to critical systems, reducing the risk of breach and misuse.

Last updated: 13 July 2026

What PAM covers

Privileged access management is the set of controls an organization applies to accounts that can change systems rather than merely use them: domain administrators, root users on servers, database owners, network device accounts, service accounts and cloud management roles. Because these identities can install software, read any data or erase logs, they are treated as a separate, higher-risk class of access.

A PAM program typically combines a credential vault that stores and rotates privileged passwords, a broker that establishes sessions to target systems without revealing the credential, session recording for accountability, and approval workflows that decide who may use which account, when, and for how long.

Why it matters

Privileged credentials are the primary target in most serious breaches. Once an attacker obtains an administrator password or a forgotten service account, they can move laterally, escalate further and cover their tracks. Shared admin passwords stored in spreadsheets, credentials that never expire and untracked remote sessions all widen this attack surface.

Regulators and auditors treat privileged access as a core control area. Frameworks such as ISO 27001, PCI DSS, SOX and NIS2 expect organizations to restrict administrative rights, keep individual accountability for shared accounts and produce evidence of who accessed critical systems. PAM turns those expectations into enforceable, auditable controls.

Implementing PAM in practice

Most teams start by discovering privileged accounts across servers, databases, network devices and cloud consoles, then bring the highest-risk credentials into a vault and enable automatic rotation. The next step is routing administrative sessions through a controlled gateway so credentials are never exposed to end users and every session can be recorded and, if needed, terminated.

Mature programs layer on just-in-time approvals, so standing admin rights are replaced by time-limited grants, and integrate PAM events with the SIEM for detection. Platforms like Monopam combine an encrypted vault, password rotation, browser-based RDP and SSH sessions and recorded, approval-gated access in a single product, which lets teams roll these controls out without deploying agents on every endpoint.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between PAM and IAM?: IAM manages identities and access for all users across all applications, typically through authentication, SSO and role assignment. PAM is a specialized layer on top of IAM that focuses on high-risk administrative and machine accounts, adding vaulting, session recording and tighter approval controls. Most organizations need both: IAM for breadth, PAM for depth on critical systems.
Which accounts count as privileged?: Any account that can alter system configuration, access sensitive data broadly or manage other accounts is privileged. Common examples include domain and local administrators, root on Linux, database admin accounts, hypervisor and cloud management roles, network device logins and service accounts used by applications. Non-IT accounts, such as a finance system superuser, can also qualify.
Is PAM required for compliance?: Few regulations name PAM explicitly, but most demand the controls PAM delivers: restricted administrative access, individual accountability, credential rotation and audit trails of privileged activity. Auditors for PCI DSS, ISO 27001, SOX and similar frameworks routinely ask how privileged accounts are protected, so a PAM tool is the practical way to produce that evidence.