8 Best Practices in Service Account Management

1. Know your existing service account types and usage

Before you can secure your service accounts effectively, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of what types of service accounts your organisation uses and how they are being utilised. This includes identifying which applications or systems rely on these accounts and their access level. 

Prioritise service accounts by category, depending on risk and how critical each is to business operations. This way, the highest priority accounts can be recovered first if a security breach occurs.  

A well-defined hierarchy will help reduce downtime and minimise business disruption amid disaster recovery. 

2. Inventorise 

Use a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution to scan the entire IT environment and automatically create a comprehensive inventory of all service accounts, detailing their purpose, associated applications or systems, and the individuals responsible for their management. With a PAM solution in place, you can maintain a real-time record of service accounts, their access rights, and usage history. 

3. Create governance policies 

Establish clear governance policies and procedures that dictate how service accounts are created, managed, and monitored. PAM tools often offer policy-driven workflows that streamline service account creation, provisioning, and approval. Enforcing governance policies ensures consistency, accountability, and compliance in service account management. 

4. Avoid creating service accounts with users’ personal credentials

One common mistake is using personal credentials (e.g., an employee’s username and password) for service accounts. This practice is risky because it ties the account’s security to an individual and can lead to potential vulnerabilities if that person leaves the organisation or their credentials are compromised. Instead, use dedicated service account credentials separate from personal user accounts. 

5. Audit and monitor 

Implement a comprehensive auditing system that captures all activities associated with service account management. PAM solutions offer real-time monitoring capabilities, which help detect anomalies, identify potential threats, trigger immediate alerts, and respond swiftly to mitigate risks. Reviewing audit logs is essential to maintain visibility and accountability over service account actions. 

6. Password Rotation 

Password rotation is a fundamental aspect of service account security. Enforce a strict password rotation policy for service accounts to minimise the risk of password-related vulnerabilities. PAM solutions can automate password changes, ensuring that passwords are regularly updated and complex. By managing password rotation in service account management, you reduce the window of opportunity for attackers to compromise these accounts, enhancing overall security. Additionally, password vaults within PAM systems allow you to store and manage service account credentials securely.  

7. Enable a strict POLP (Principle of Least Privilege) policy

Implement the Principle of Least Privilege (POLP) rigorously as a part of service account management by providing the minimum level of access required to fulfil its designated role. PAM solutions enable fine-grained control over access permissions, allowing you to grant the least privilege necessary for tasks. By adhering to POLP, you reduce the attack surface and mitigate the risk of unauthorised access or misuse of service accounts. 

8. Clear service accounts that are no longer needed

Regularly review and decommission service accounts that are no longer in use or necessary for your organisation’s operations. Unused or obsolete service accounts can be easy targets for attackers, so it’s essential to keep your service account inventory clean and up to date.