The National Social Security Fund of Uganda Leverages Sectona to Improve Compliance and Govern Privileged Access

Addressing Audit Gaps and Strengthening Privileged Access Governance

Over time, NSSF recognised growing concerns around trust within IT operations and the management of privileged access. Privileged Access Management (PAM) had increasingly become a critical component of IT security, particularly across East Africa, where private-sector organisations in banking and telecommunications had rapidly adopted such solutions and even established dedicated PAM offices.

Government-sector organisations had also embraced PAM to meet audit requirements and regulatory benchmarks. As a quasi-government agency, NSSF experienced a decline in audit ratings due to limited control over user actions within its IT environment and the absence of a structured process to manage privilege delegation.

After identifying these gaps, NSSF defined clear objectives for its PAM initiative:

• Control and monitor access of privileged users across the organisation’s environment.
• Restrict and manage delegated privileges throughout their lifecycle using time-bound access controls.
• Record and analyse all privileged sessions to enhance audit readiness and enable granular visibility into user activities.
• The organisation required a robust and transparent solution capable of meeting stringent procurement standards as government oversight required a rigorous evaluation process.