Vendor Privileged Access Management, or VPAM, is a tool that provides least privilege access for vendor employees, while also keeping track of what each of those individuals does with that access. More specifically, it’s an implementation of Privileged Access Management (PAM) that helps organizations protect their digital infrastructure by managing and monitoring account access for third-party vendors.

This type of access control helps protect organizations from malicious actors or accidental data leaks.

A vendor is any individual or company with which an organization has an agreement to provide goods or services. These accounts are typically high-level accounts that have direct access to the organization’s most confidential information, such as financial records, customer data, personnel files, etc.

Companies often work with outside experts, consultants, and other third-party vendors who need privileged access to corporate resources. Companies engage with third-party vendors in different ways, such as a remote contractor working on a time-limited project, an embedded contractor, or outsourced staff augmentation.

What Does VPAM Do?

VPAM’s primary purpose is to control and monitor privileged access provided to third parties, such as contractors, service providers, partners, etc. This includes providing temporary access for specific tasks or ongoing access for long-term projects.

With VPAM, companies can set up detailed policies on who can have privileged access and what type of privilege they have once they are granted access. This allows the company to maintain full control over access to sensitive information and data.

Another important feature of VPAM is its ability to detect suspicious behavior from vendors with privileged access in near real time. By monitoring user activity on a near continuous basis, VPAM can identify any unusual patterns or behaviors that might indicate malicious activity. It then alerts the organization so that it can take appropriate action as quickly as possible before a breach occurs.

How Does VPAM Function?

VPAM works by establishing a set of granular policies for each vendor account on the network. These policies determine what kind of resources each vendor can access and how they can interact with those resources. For example, a policy could be established that limits a vendor’s ability to modify certain files or directories within the system while still allowing them read-only access.

Additionally, each policy should include provisions for monitoring user activities and logging suspicious behavior in order to detect potential threats early on.