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7 Essential Types of Privileged Accounts
Privileged accounts in enterprises are user and non-user (machines/software) identities with elevated access rights to perform critical actions and control networks. IT teams use them to deploy hardware, run mission-critical services, and perform maintenance.
More often than not, privileged accounts become primary target for threat actors for their unrestricted access rights. A breached privileged account can result in catastrophic cyber-attacks.
In this blog, we will explore 7 types of privileged accounts, their importance in enterprise operations and protecting them.
Types of Privileged Accounts
1. Domain Administrator Accounts
Domain administrator accounts are privileged accounts within a domain, normally in an Active Directory (AD) environment. They possess elevated authorizations to manage and configure domain workstations and servers. Critical tasks performed by Domain Admin accounts include:
- Creation, deletion and modification of user groups and accounts
- Management of Group Policy Objects (GPOs)
- Installation of software across network systems
- Configuration of network-wide security settings
- Accessing and managing files, services and databases.
Enterprises must secure domain administrator accounts and provide minimal access rights to authorized personnel to avoid catastrophic breaches.
2. Privileged User Accounts
Privileged user accounts are identities with elevated access rights on one or more systems. These are one of the types of privileged accounts that have more authority than standard user accounts.
Some key characteristics of privileged user accounts include:
- Access to critical systems: They can modify configurations, install software, and retrieve sensitive data.
- Extended permissions: These accounts can execute critical tasks such as user account management, network device configuration, or accessing secure databases.
Due to their high level of access, privileged user accounts are a prime target for cyberattacks, insider threats, and unauthorized use. Enterprises must implement Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC) and restrict the usage of these accounts for better protection.
3. Local Administrator Accounts
Local administrator accounts provide complete authority over individual devices. IT and Tech Support staff use these accounts to manage local system settings, install software, create user accounts, and troubleshoot and configure devices. Take, for example, the default “Administrator” account on Windows and the “root” account on macOS.
The level of access for these accounts is limited to a specific machine than an entire domain. Because they can provide complete system control, local admin accounts are often a prime target in brute-forcing attempts.
To secure them, disable or rename default accounts, enforce strong passwords and manage access via a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution.
4. Application Accounts
Application accounts interact with the underlying operating systems, databases and services. Applications and developers use them to access databases, APIs and other necessary app functionality services. They also automate app tasks such as backups and data transfers.
A compromised account can enable threat actors to manipulate application behaviour and steal hardcoded credentials in scripts and configuration files.
5. Domain Service Accounts
Domain service accounts are specialized accounts that run automated services, applications, or processes on behalf of the operating system or applications in a domain environment.
These accounts usually have specific permissions to interact with other domain resources. Applications, services, and IT admins use them to access network resources, databases, or APIs required by some services. Examples include the accounts that run SQL Server, IIS web services, or antivirus software.
Domain service accounts may often be overlooked during security reviews, making them vulnerable to cyber-attacks. They can grant attackers persistent access to sensitive systems or databases if compromised.
6 Service Accounts
Service accounts are non-human accounts used by system services, applications, and scheduled tasks to perform automated processes such as planned backups, database maintenance, or antivirus scans.
Examples of service accounts include accounts used by Windows services, such as “LocalSystem” or “NetworkService,” or service accounts like Apache or MySQL.
Service accounts provide broad access to enterprise resources and data, making them the most vulnerable privileged accounts. Hence, organizations must restrict service account access to the minimum privileges needed, regularly rotate passwords, and avoid using default/shared credentials.
7. Root Accounts
Root accounts are superuser accounts with unrestricted access to files, configurations, and commands on Unix/Linux-based machines.
System administrators, applications and automated scripts use root accounts to manage org-wide settings and perform critical administrative tasks such as installing software, changing configurations, and troubleshooting system-level issues.
Root accounts, such as the “root” on Linux/Unix machines, have complete control over networks. Unrestricted use of these accounts can lead to accidental misconfigurations, system failures, or security vulnerabilities.
To protect critical root accounts, limit direct root access, enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), use sudo with logging for privilege escalation, and restrict access to the accounts.
Finding & Securing Different Types of Privileged Accounts
A threat actor only needs to compromise a single privileged account to disrupt networks, steal data and launch ransomware attacks. Hence, the foremost step in protecting privileged access is to implement a robust system that clearly defines user roles and enforces access restrictions to minimize the attack surface. Enterprises must consider having visibility over various types of privileged accounts and securing them.
Here are some practices to ensure privileged access across endpoints, cloud, and remote devices remains secure and resilient against threats.
- Enforce the least privilege and grant user access on a need-to-know basis.
- Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all privileged accounts for an extra layer of security.
- Regularly audit and rotate privileged credentials to prevent misuse.
- Implement session monitoring to track privileged activities in real-time and to detect suspicious event logs.
- Adopt Just-in-Time (JIT) access and provide temporary elevated privileges only when necessary.
- Use automated account discovery tools to identify and act on unmanaged privileged accounts across environments.
- Segment privileged accounts and isolate critical endpoints from lower-tier networks.
For more info about protecting and managing different types of privileged accounts, feel free to contact Sectona.
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