Modernizing Privileged Access: Rethinking PAM for Today’s Web Applications
Privileged web applications such as firewall admin consoles, EDR platforms, Hypervisors, CRM, HR system, and cloud management consoles are among the most critical assets of an organization. Accessing these applications should be tightly controlled as part of any security policy.
This article begins a new blog series, Securing Privileged Web Access, in which I will discuss new, scalable, and secure methods of controlling access to these vital web applications—free of the unnecessary complexity and restrictions of legacy models.
The Legacy Model: Traditional PAM and Jump Servers
Many organizations still rely on Privileged Access Management (PAM) tools combined with jump servers to control access to web-based admin interfaces. While this setup provides centralized control and session auditing, it comes with significant trade-offs.
But what if we could bring PAM controls into modern and secure Identity and Access Management (IAM) paradigms—shifting from infrastructure-heavy models to identity-centric access? Instead of forcing users through jump servers and hardened browsers, we could apply just-in-time (JIT) access, Single Sign On and strong authentication directly at the identity layer. Combine that with modern access policies, adaptive MFA, and context-aware enforcement, and you get the best of both worlds:
✔️ Vaulting and Password Rotation, Security controls, session visibility from PAM !
✔️ Seamless, scalable, and cloud-native access from IAM !
This convergence not only reduces friction for end users but also simplifies operations, shortens incident response times, and makes privileged access controls more resilient and future-ready—especially for modern SaaS apps and hybrid environments.
Wait, wait 😇
Before we jump into the solution space, let’s take a closer look at some of the core challenges with this legacy approach. Because to truly move forward, we need to understand what’s holding us back:
🔄 Lacks Native Browser Experience
Users are required to connect to a jump server and then launch a web browser from there. This adds friction and disrupts the native, seamless experience of directly accessing web applications. For instance, a developer troubleshooting a web-based admin console might need to inspect network requests or debug JavaScript errors. However, due to browser hardening policies on the jump server, tools like Developer Tools (F12), browser extensions, or right-click context menus are often disabled or restricted—making even routine troubleshooting difficult or impossible. These constraints introduce inefficiencies and force users to find cumbersome workarounds.
🛠️ Deployment and Management Overhead
Jump servers need to be deployed, hardened, and managed with dedicated GPOs and policies. This increases the operational burden on IT and security teams.
📈 Large Infrastructure Footprint
Supporting concurrent web sessions often means scaling up RDP connections, which requires substantial server infrastructure—especially as the number of users and applications grows. For example, a jump server with 64 GB RAM and 8 vCPUs in Azure (e.g., a Standard_D8s_v5 VM) can cost approximately $500–$600/month, depending on the region and pricing model (pay-as-you-go vs reserved instances). When scaled across multiple regions or high availability setups, these costs can quickly multiply, not to mention the additional expenses for backup, licensing, and monitoring.
🔌 Connector Build & Maintenance Complexity
A connector must often be built, customized, and continuously maintained for each target application. While some PAM or remote access solutions offer pre-built connectors, these are often limited to popular applications and rarely cover the full range of internal or third-party SaaS tools in use—especially those with unique login flows, custom domains, or security mechanisms like CAPTCHA.
Even when a connector exists, modifying it to meet enterprise-specific needs—such as injecting custom headers, handling conditional logic, or adding pre-authentication security checks—requires specialized skills. Engineers often need experience with tools like AutoIt (for UI automation), vendor-specific SDKs, and REST APIs to develop or enhance connectors.
For example:
- A connector may need to handle dynamic web elements or non-standard login sequences, which can’t be managed with basic scripting alone.
- Some applications enforce client-side security mechanisms, requiring interaction with JavaScript or token-based flows.
- Debugging these scenarios often involves reverse-engineering web traffic, browser behavior, and session state management.
Additionally, browser driver updates (such as ChromeDriver or Edge WebDriver) must be tracked and integrated regularly, as mismatches between browser versions and drivers can cause automated logins to fail silently.
For modern SaaS apps that use SAML, OIDC, or enforce MFA, things get even more complicated. These protocols introduce redirect chains, token validation, and device fingerprinting—making automation and connector development non-trivial. Without deep knowledge of identity protocols, even skilled IT admins may struggle to implement stable and secure connectors.
In essence, managing these connectors becomes a development effort, requiring:
- Scripting and automation experience (PowerShell, AutoIt, Python)
- Familiarity with web protocols and browser behavior
- Comfort with APIs and vendor SDKs
- Understanding of identity standards (SAML, OAuth2, OIDC)
- Change management to handle browser, OS, and application updates
And what’s worst is that when a connector breaks, it’s often too late—you’ll suddenly find yourself with hundreds or even thousands of users unable to access a critical web application. This not only creates frustration and downtime for end users, but also intense pressure and stress for the PAM team to identify, troubleshoot, and resolve the issue under fire 🔥
🔁 Jump Server Upgrade Dependencies
Changes to the PAM solution frequently require corresponding updates to the jump servers, introducing added risk, downtime, and maintenance cycles.
🌍 VPN Requirements for Remote Access
Remote access to vaulted credentials typically requires a VPN. Even though some PAM vendors (like CyberArk) now offer VPN-less access, those features must be deployed, secured, and continuously maintained.
Time for a Change
The legacy model was designed for a time when everything lived on-prem, behind a clear perimeter. That’s no longer the case. Today’s teams need to access privileged web apps from anywhere—securely, efficiently, and without jumping through hoops.
In the next post in this series, I’ll introduce a modern, browser-native approach to privileged web access that:
- Eliminates the need for jump servers and RDP sessions while keeping PAM controls.
- Offers seamless, secure, and auditable access.
- Integrates natively with modern identity protocols like SAML and OIDC.
- Supports MFA and VPN-less connections.
- Supports JIT access and Zero Standing Privileges for Cloud Consoles
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Securing Privileged Web Access series, where we’ll explore this access model in depth.
Enjoy !
شكرًا / Thank you / Merci