ARCON Privilege Account Management Suite

Digital transformation is expanding organizational attack surfaces through initiatives like digital workplaces, DevOps, security automation, and IoT, increasing the need to assess and manage security risks without disrupting business. A major focus area is Privileged Access Management (PAM), which addresses risks tied to privileged access. Two primary privileged user groups exist: privileged business users who access sensitive information assets (e.g., HR, payroll, financial data, intellectual property) via application accounts, and privileged IT users who administer infrastructure through system, software, or operational accounts. Because privileged accounts often provide unrestricted and insufficiently monitored access, they can violate least-privilege principles and weaken accountability, making them high-risk targets for misuse.

Conventional IAM tools are optimized for standard user access and typically lack capabilities needed for privileged scenarios such as shared accounts, privileged activity monitoring, and controlled elevation. PAM suites mitigate these gaps with controls like credential vaulting, password rotation, privilege elevation and delegation, session establishment, and activity monitoring, while increasingly adding privileged user analytics, risk-based monitoring, and advanced threat protection. Key drivers include abuse of shared credentials, unauthorized use of elevated privileges, credential hijacking, third-party system abuse, and accidental misuse. PAM programs also must meet operational and regulatory needs such as account discovery, ownership tracking, SSO for administrators, activity auditing/recording, and controlling vendor/MSP and cloud administrative access. Complementary privilege management tools can add deep platform protection (Unix/Linux/Windows), including protecting “root”/“admin” accounts and restricting specific shell commands.

ARCON, founded in 2006 and headquartered in Mumbai, offers a modular PAM suite with global presence and over 250 customers, with BFSI as its leading revenue sector. Its platform includes vaulting, SSO, granular control and command filtering (including databases), session monitoring/recording, and centralized logging/auditing, supported by appliances (PVSL, SGS), HA features, broad connector coverage, and integrations (SIEM, ticketing). Strengths include scalability and customization; challenges include client-based maintenance overhead, limited Western penetration, and inconsistent pricing.

• Digital workplace, DevOps, security automation, and IoT initiatives expand organizational attack surfaces and introduce new digital risks.
• Privileged business users access sensitive information assets such as HR records, payroll details, financial information, and intellectual property through application accounts.
• Privileged IT users administer infrastructure through system accounts, software accounts, or operational accounts.
• Traditional IAM tools generally do not handle shared accounts, privileged activity monitoring, or controlled privilege elevation.
• PAM capabilities commonly include credential vaulting, password rotation, privilege elevation/delegation, session establishment, and activity monitoring.
• Key privilege-management challenges include shared credential abuse, unauthorized elevated privilege abuse, credential hijacking, third-party system privilege abuse, and accidental misuse.
• ARCON was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India.
• ARCON has over 250 customers globally and a local presence in the UK, Canada, South Africa, Dubai, and Kenya.
• ARCON’s PAM suite includes modules for password vaulting, SSO, granular access control/command filtering, session recording/monitoring, and centralized logging/auditing.
• ARCON’s privilege escalation and command filtering capabilities are priced at approximately 25% higher than the market average.

• “To remain relevant, organizations must reinvent themselves by being agile and more innovative.”
• “Emerging technology initiatives such as digital workplace, DevOps, security automation and the Internet of Things continue to expand the attack surface of organizations as well as introduce new digital risks.”
• “Privileged Access Management represents the set of critical cybersecurity controls that deal with management of security risks associated with privileged access in an organization.”
• “The privileged nature of these accounts provides their users an unrestricted and often unmonitored access across the organization’s IT assets.”
• “Available Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools are purposely designed to deal with management of standard users’ identity and access, and do not offer the capabilities to manage privileged access scenarios.”
• “More advanced capabilities such as privileged user analytics, risk-based session monitoring and advanced threat protection are becoming the new norm.”
• “A specific area is the in-depth protection of server platforms such as Unix, Linux, and Windows.”
• “ARCON’s Privileged Account Management suite is delivered as a bundle of different modules that are licensed separately and offered in software, virtual and physical appliance, and PAM as a service options.”
• “The approach also has the potential to extend PAM capabilities to include better control of end user devices for advanced threat protection over the proxy-based approach.”
• “Overall, ARCON’s PAM solution… is a recommended product for managing privileged access in a heterogenous IT environment and one that deserves a place on your POC shortlist for further technical evaluation.”