In every bank and microfinance institution, a small number of accounts can do almost anything: domain administrators, database administrators, core banking system admins, firewall admins and vendor support accounts. Attackers know this. Most serious breaches involve a stolen or misused privileged account. Privileged Access Management (PAM) puts these accounts under control, so every admin action is authorised, recorded and traceable.
Common Risks With Admin Accounts
- Shared admin passwords known by several staff and old vendors.
- Passwords that have not been changed for years.
- Vendors with permanent remote access to core systems.
- No record of who did what on servers and databases.
- Former staff whose admin access was never removed.
What Privileged Access Management Does
Central password vault
Admin passwords are stored in an encrypted vault and changed automatically. Staff connect through the PAM system without ever seeing the actual password, so it cannot be shared or written down.
Session recording
Every privileged session to servers, databases and network devices can be recorded and searched. If something goes wrong, you can see exactly what happened and who did it.
Approval workflows
Access to critical systems can require approval from a manager, for a set time window. This is especially useful for vendor support access.
Multi-factor authentication
Admins confirm their identity with a second factor before reaching sensitive systems, which blocks attackers who only have a stolen password.
Least privilege
Each person gets only the access they need for their role, for the time they need it. Database admins do not need firewall access, and vendors do not need permanent access.
Audit reports
Clear reports on who accessed which system and when help with internal audit, regulators and incident investigations.
Getting Started With PAM
- List all privileged accounts, including service and vendor accounts
- Move the most critical systems behind the PAM platform first
- Remove shared and unused admin accounts
- Turn on session recording and approvals for vendor access
- Review access rights every quarter
How Junubia Host Can Help
Junubia Host is an active partner of Kron Technologies, whose PAM platform is used by banks and telecom companies around the world. We help banks and microfinance institutions in Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan plan, deploy and support Kron PAM, and we combine it with Fortinet network security and Microsoft 365 identity protection.
Find Out Where Your Risks Are
Book a free IT assessment and we will review how admin access is controlled in your institution today. You can also reach us on WhatsApp: +211 924 786 666 (South Sudan) or +255 768 404 666 (Tanzania and Rwanda).
Written by Dut Majak, CEO and Founder of Junubia Host Co Ltd. Dut leads Junubia’s work with banks, government institutions, NGOs and businesses across South Sudan, Tanzania and Rwanda.
